Comparison of wing geometry data and genetic data for assessing the population structure of Aedes aegypti

Autor(es)

Vidal, Paloma Oliveira ^[1] ; Suesdek, Lincoln ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Inst Butantan, Secao Parasitol, BR-1500 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION; v. 12, n. 3, p. 591-596, APR 2012.
• Citações Web of Science: 12

Resumo

Aedes aegypti is the most important vector of dengue viruses in tropical and subtropical regions. Because vaccines are still under development, dengue prevention depends primarily on vector control. Population genetics is a common approach in research involving Ae. aegypti. In the context of medical entomology, wing morphometric analysis has been proposed as a strong and low-cost complementary tool for investigating population structure. Therefore, we comparatively evaluated the genetic and phenotypic variability of population samples of Ae. aegypti from four sampling sites in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo city, Brazil. The distances between the sites ranged from 7.1 to 50 km. This area, where knowledge on the population genetics of this mosquito is incipient, was chosen due to the thousands of dengue cases registered yearly. The analysed loci were polymorphic, and they revealed population structure (global F-ST = 0.062; p < 0.05) and low levels of gene flow (Nm = 0.47) between the four locations. Principal component and discriminant analyses of wing shape variables (18 landmarks) demonstrated that wing polymorphisms were only slightly more common between populations than within populations. Whereas microsatellites allowed for geographic differentiation, wing geometry failed to distinguish the samples. These data suggest that microevolution in this species may affect genetic and morphological characters to different degrees. In this case, wing shape was not validated as a marker for assessing population structure. According to the interpretation of a previous report, the wing shape of Ae. aegypti does not vary significantly because it is stabilised by selective pressure. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/15039-1 - Caracterização molecular e morfológica de populações de Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) no estado de São Paulo
• Beneficiário: Paloma Oliveira Vidal
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 06/02622-5 - Caracterização populacional de Culicidae de interesse médico: aspectos moleculares, cariotípicos e morfométricos
• Beneficiário: Lincoln Suesdek Rocha
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular