HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Spillings, B. L. Articles by Hunt, R. H. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Spillings, B. L. Articles by Hunt, R. H.

A New Species Concealed by Anopheles funestus Giles, a Major Malaria Vector in Africa

The major malaria vector Anopheles funestus belongs to a group of morphologically similar species that are commonly distinguished from one another through the use of chromosomal and molecular techniques. Indoor resting collections of mosquitoes from Malawi were initially identified as An. funestus by morphology, but failed to have this confirmed by the species-specific polymerase chain reaction assay. Sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region 2 identified variations within the An. funestus-specific primer binding site and showed a sequence variation of 4.5% compared with An. funestus. Domain 3 analysis showed sequence variation of 1.5% from An. funestus. Cytogenetic analysis of the polytene chromosome banding arrangements showed that the specimens were homosequential with An. funestus, with fixed inverted arrangements of the 3a, 3b, and 5a inversions commonly polymorphic in An. funestus. The chromosomes of hybrid females showed levels of asynapsis typical of inter-species crosses. These molecular and cytogenetic observations support the conclusion that this Malawi population is a new species and it has provisionally been named An. funestus-like.

Received November 6, 2008. Accepted for publication April 28, 2009.

Acknowledgments: We thank Samuel Vezenegho for assistance with ELISA, Mike Lo for laboratory assistance, Christophe Kikankie for assistance with field collections, Paladin Resources Ltd., for facilitating the field collections, and R. A. Wirtz (Entomology Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA) for kindly supplying P. falciparum positive controls and the monoclonal antibody P. falciparum 2A10 for use in the indirect ELISA.

Financial support: This study was supported by the South African Medical Research Council, the South African Malaria Initiative and the South African Research Chair Initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, and the National Research Foundation.

^* Address correspondence to Belinda L. Spillings, Vector Control Reference Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Private Bag X4, Sandringham, Johannesburg, 2131, and Division of Virology and Communicable Disease Surveillance, School of Pathology of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. E-mail: belindas{at}nicd.ac.za

Authors’ addresses: Belinda L. Spillings, Basil D. Brooke, Lizette L. Koekemoer, and Maureen Coetzee, Vector Control Reference Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Private Bag X4, Sandringham, Johannesburg, 2131, and Division of Virology and Communicable Disease Surveillance, School of Pathology of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. John Chiphwanya, National Malaria Control Programme, Lilongwe, Malawi. Richard H. Hunt, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Johannesburg, 2001, South Africa.

Reprint requests: Maureen Coetzee, Vector Control Reference Unit, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, National Health Laboratory Service, Private Bag X4, Sandringham, Johannesburg, 2131, South Africa, E-mail: maureenc{at}nicd.ac.za.