Genetic analysis of mosquitoes from rural and urban areas of Sialkot, Pakistan

Abstract

The current study was conducted to demonstrate the genetic variability, gene flow and rate of migration in mosquito populations between rural and urban areas in Sialkot, Pakistan. The adult mosquitoes were collected with the help of sweep net and battery-operated aspirator, whereas the larvae were collected using standard dippers. DNA extraction was performed through TNE salt extraction method. Fourteen samples of mosquito populations for the selected seven species of three genera were studied using RAPD loci. Ten oligonucleotide decamer primers produced 92 polymorphic fragments ranging from 120 to 3000 base pairs. The data generated through RAPD markers were analyzed through POPGENE software. The UPGMA dendrogram demonstrated two distinct groups comprising of seven mosquito species of three genera' Culex, Anopheles and Aedes. All the species from both urban and rural areas showed genetic relatedness with the corresponding species. Aedes albopictus from urban areas was found more closely related to Ae. aegypti. Aedes species group originated from Ae. albopictus of rural areas. The genetic diversity observed in population from urban areas was GST=0.113 (Nm=4.014) with heterozygosity of 0.3691; and the rural areas showed genetic variation of GST=0.134 (Nm=2.62) with a total heterozygosity of 0.4019. The overall genetic variation among fourteen populations showed GST=0.147 and rate of migration Nm=3.73. The genetic relatedness and Nm value showed low level of genetic variations in mosquito populations from rural and urban areas of Sialkot. Moreover, the genetic data show that mosquitoes are freely moving between rural and urban areas.