Morphological and molecular characterization of Anopheles (Anopheles) sacharovi Favre, a primary vector of malaria in the Middle East

Abstract

Abstract. Combined morphological and molecular studies were conducted on Anopheles (Anopheles) sacharovi Favre, an important malaria vector of the Palaearctic Maculipennis Complex. Specimens collected in Greece and Iran were identified on the basis of morphology and confirmed by correlation of their nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) rDNA sequences with those available in GenBank. The progeny of females collected in Greece were used for detailed morphological study. The morphology of the adults, pupa, fourth-instar larva and egg are described and distinguished from those of An. maculipennis, the nominotypical member of the Maculipennis Complex. In addition to sequence data for the nuclear ITS2 region, partial sequence data are provided for the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. The taxonomy, systematics, bionomics and distribution of the species are reviewed. This work provides the first fully integrated assessment of An. sacharovi as a basis for comparative studies of the Maculipennis Complex.

Molecular identification of Palearctic members of Anopheles maculipennis in northern Iran

“…These sequences were well conserved and almost identical to those previously reported for Nearctic and Palearctic taxa of An. maculipennis complex [7,26,42]. No intra-specific variation was detected in the ITS2 sequences of either species.…”

“…maculipennis species complex generated in this study and by others [7,26,29,30,45,46] and also three Nearctic taxa [42] were examined for phylogenetic analysis.…”

“…lewisi and An. artemievi [3-7]. Anopheles sacharovi is the main vector in Turkey and is, together with Anopheles superpictus and Anopheles pulcherrimus , the most important vector, of malaria in the former Soviet Union, although An.…”

“…maculipennis complex including the preferences [17], larval chaetotaxy [18], ovarian polytene chromosome banding pattern [19,20] cuticular hydrocarbons [21] isoenzyme analysis [22,23] and most recently, DNA sequences [24-30]. Of these methods, egg morphology [31] and DNA sequencing [7,32,33] have been used for identification of different members of this complex in Iran.…”

1134 Upwind responses of Anopheles stephensi to carbon dioxide and L-lactic acid: an olfactometer study

“…Malaria remains a major public health problem in southern part of the Islamic Republic of Iran; about 80% of all malaria cases in the country are reported from this region and there are 6 anopheline mosquitoes known to be malaria vectors [1][2][3][4][5]. Anopheles stephensi is an important malaria vector throughout south Asia, including the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent and the Middle East.…”