DNA barcoding of British mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) to support species identification, discovery of cryptic genetic diversity and monitoring invasive species
Creators
- 1. Animal and Plant Health Agency, Surrey, United Kingdom
- 2. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- 3. University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
- 4. Center for Rickettsiosis and Arthropod-Borne Diseases, Logroño, Spain
- 5. Bunderswehr Hospital Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
- 6. Public Health England, Salisbury, United Kingdom
- 7. Animal and Plant Health Agency, Surrey, United Kingdom|University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
- 8. Animal and Plant Health Agency, Surrey, United Kingdom|University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Description
Correct mosquito species identification is essential for mosquito and disease control programs. However, this is complicated by the difficulties in morphologically identifying some mosquito species. In this study, variation of a partial sequence of the cytochrome c oxidase unit I (COI) gene was used for the molecular identification of British mosquito species and to facilitate the discovery of cryptic diversity, and monitoring invasive species. Three DNA extraction methods were compared to obtain DNA barcodes from adult specimens. In total, we analyzed 42 species belonging to the genera Aedes Meigen, 1818 (21 species), Anopheles Meigen, 1818 (7 species), Coquillettidia Theobald, 1904 (1 species), Culex Linnaeus, 1758 (6 species), Culiseta Felt, 1904 (7 species), and Orthopodomyia Theobald, 1904 (1 species). Intraspecific genetic divergence ranged from 0% to 5.4%, while higher interspecific divergences were identified between Aedes geminus Peus, 1971/Culiseta litorea (Shute, 1928) (24.6%) and Ae. geminus/An. plumbeus Stephens, 1828 (22.5%). Taxonomic discrepancy was shown between An. daciae Linton, Nicolescu & Harbach, 2004 and An. messeae Falleroni, 1828 indicating the poor resolution of the COI DNA barcoding region in separating these taxa. Other species such as Ae. cantans (Meigen, 1818)/Ae. annulipes (Meigen, 1830) showed similar discrepancies indicating some limitation of this genetic marker to identify certain mosquito species. The combination of morphology and DNA barcoding is an effective approach for the identification of British mosquitoes, for invasive mosquitoes posing a threat to the UK, and for the detection of hidden diversity within species groups.
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Related works
- Has part
- 10.3897/zookeys.832.32257.figure2 (DOI)
- 10.3897/zookeys.832.32257.figure1 (DOI)
- 10.3897/zookeys.832.32257.suppl1 (DOI)
- 10.3897/zookeys.832.32257.suppl2 (DOI)