Anopheles darlingi population dynamics using microsatellite and ddRADseq in rural settlements in Acrelândia- Acre, Brazil

• Grant number: 14/09461-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: October 06, 2014
• End date: December 05, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Entomology and Malacology of Parasites and Vectors
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Eduardo Martins Ribolla
• Grantee: Melina Aulino Campos de Lima
• Supervisor: Jan Evelyn Conn
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Wadsworth Center, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/04881-9 - Population dynamics of Anopheles darlingi by genotyping microssatellite in Acrelândia- AC - Brazil, BP.DD

Abstract

Malaria is the most important global human parasite. This disease disproportionately affects mostly poor human populations in tropical and subtropical areas, where more than two billion people are at risk of becoming infected. In Brazil, the Amazon region is the most important endemic area for the disease, which accounts for up to 95% of malaria cases. The transmission cycle consists of Plasmodium species which are transmitted to humans by bites of mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles. The mosquito Anopheles darlingi is the main vector of this parasite in Brazil and other countries of South America. It is widely distributed in the Amazon region and has a high level of genetic and behavioral heterogeneity.. This heterogeneity may be related to the biology and dispersal of the vector, as well as its interaction with humans. This project proposes to analyze population dynamics of An. darlingi in selected localities near Acrelândia-AC using genotyping of microsatellites and ddRADSeq (double digest restriction-site associated DNA sequencing). The region around Acrelândia has been subjected to continual environmental changes which may influence the composition of some populations of this vector and, consequently, the transmission of Plasmodium that causes malaria. (AU)