Seasonal population dynamics and the genetic structure of the mosquito vector Aedes aegypti in São Paulo, Brazil

• Grant number: 12/18394-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants - Publications - Scientific article
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Entomology and Malacology of Parasites and Vectors
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Eduardo Martins Ribolla
• Grantee: Paulo Eduardo Martins Ribolla
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Population genetic studies of insect vectors can generate knowledge to improve epidemiological studies focused on the decrease of pathogen transmission. In this study, we used 9 SNPs across the Aedes aegypti genome to characterize seasonal population variations of this important dengue vector. Mosquito samples were obtained by ovitraps placed over Botucatu SP from 2005 to 2010. Our data show that, regardless of the large variation in mosquito abundance (deduced from the number of eggs obtained from ovitraps) the effective population size remained stable over the years. These results suggest that Ae. aegypti is able to maintain a sufficiently large active breeding population during the dry season to keep genetic frequencies stable. These results open new perspectives on mosquito survey and control methods. (AU)