The new Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 diagnostic tool clarifies the taxonomic position and geographic distribution of the North American malaria vector Anopheles punctipennis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The malaria mosquito Anopheles punctipennis, a widely distributed species in North America, is capable of transmitting human malaria and is actively involved in the transmission of the ungulate malaria parasite Plasmodium odocoilei. However, molecular diagnostic tools based on Internal Transcribed Spacer 2 (ITS2) of ribosomal DNA are lacking for this species. Anopheles punctipennis is a former member of the Anopheles maculipennis complex but its systematic position remains unclear.

Methods

In this study, ITS2 sequences were obtained from 276 An. punctipennis specimens collected in the eastern and midwestern United States and a simple and robust Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism approach for species identification was developed. The maximum-likelihood phylog

SUBMITTER: Hodge JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7944907 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature