title: Chromosome inversions and ecological plasticity in the main African malaria mosquitoes.
abstract: Chromosome inversions have fascinated the scientific community, mainly because of their role in the rapid adaption of different taxa to changing environments. However, the ecological traits linked to chromosome inversions have been poorly studied. Here, we investigated the roles played by 23 chromosome inversions in the adaptation of the four major African malaria mosquitoes to local environments in Africa. We studied their distribution patterns by using spatially explicit modeling and characterized the ecogeographical determinants of each inversion range. We then performed hierarchical clustering and constrained ordination analyses to assess the spatial and ecological similarities among inversions. Our results show that most inversions are environmentally structured, suggesting that they are actively involved in processes of local adaptation. Some inversions exhibited similar geographical patterns and ecological requirements among the four mosquito species, providing evidence for parallel evolution. Conversely, common inversion polymorphisms between sibling species displayed divergent ecological patterns, suggesting that they might have a different adaptive role in each species. These results are in agreement with the finding that chromosomal inversions play a role in Anopheles ecotypic adaptation. This study establishes a strong ecological basis for future genome-based analyses to elucidate the genetic mechanisms of local adaptation in these four mosquitoes.
authors.affiliation: UMR 224 MIVEGEC/ESV, IRD, Montpellier, 34394, France.|CIRMF, BP 769, Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ayala
authors.affiliation: SaBio, Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC), CSIC-UCLM-JCCM, Ciudad Real, 13005, Spain.
authors.forename: Pelayo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Acevedo
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Parassitologia, Dipartimento di Scienze di Sanità Pubblica, Università di Roma "La Sapienza,", Rome, 00185, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pombi
authors.affiliation: Medical Entomology Unit, Institut Pasteur de Dakar, BP 220, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: Ibrahima
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dia
authors.affiliation: Department MIPI, Unit Vector-Borne Diseases and International Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, 00161, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boccolini
authors.affiliation: UMR 224 MIVEGEC/ESV, IRD, Montpellier, 34394, France.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Costantini
authors.affiliation: UMR 224 MIVEGEC/ESV, IRD, Montpellier, 34394, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simard
authors.affiliation: UMR 224 MIVEGEC/ESV, IRD, Montpellier, 34394, France.|Current Address: Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, BP 983, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fontenille
mesh_terms: D000350:Africa, Central; D000354:Africa, Western; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics*; D007446:Chromosome Inversion; D004777:Environment; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D059785:Karyotype; D008288:Malaria; D008957:Models, Genetic; D000072138:Mosquito Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
keywords: Anopheles; chromosome inversions; ecological divergence; local adaptation; parallel evolution