From: Rich Blinne (richblinne@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Oct 04 2002 - 19:47:27 EDT
Published online October 3, 2002
Submitted on August 27, 2002
Accepted on September 25, 2002
A Polytene Chromosome Analysis of the Anopheles gambiae Species Complex
Mario Coluzzi 1*, Adriana Sabatini 1, Alessandra della Torre 1, Maria Angela
Di Deco 1, Vincenzo Petrarca 2
1 Dipartimento di Scienze di Sanitę Pubblica and Istituto Pasteur-Cenci
Bolognetti, Universitę "La Sapienza," Rome, Italy.
2 Dipartimento di Genetica e Biologia Molecolare, Universitę "La Sapienza,"
Rome, Italy.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
mario.coluzzi@uniroma1.it.
Field collected specimens of all known taxa in the Anopheles gambiae complex
were analyzed on the basis of chromosome inversions with reference to a
standard polytene chromosome map. The phylogenetic relationship among the
seven described species in the complex could be inferred from the
distribution of fixed inversions. Nonrandom patterns of inversion
distribution were observed and, particularly on chromosome arm 2R, provided
evidence for genetically distinct populations in A. gambiae, A. arabiensis,
and A. melas. In A. gambiae from Mali, stable genetic differentiation was
observed even in populations living in the same region, suggesting a process
of incipient speciation. The possible role of chromosome differentiation in
speciation of the A. gambiae complex and in the emergence of distinct
chromosomal forms within the nominal species is discussed in relation to
human malaria.
Science 10.1126/science.1077769
Copyright © 2002 by The American Association for the Advancement of Science.
All rights reserved.
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