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Adaptive divergence between incipient species of Anopheles gambiae increases resistance to Plasmodium.
- Source :
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 1/4/2011, Vol. 108 Issue 1, p244-249. 6p. 1 Diagram, 3 Graphs, 1 Map. - Publication Year :
- 2011
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Abstract
- The African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae is diversifying into ecotypes known as M and S forms. This process is thought to be promoted by adaptation to different larval habitats, but its genetic underpinnings remain elusive. To identify candidate targets of divergent natural selection in M and S, we performed genomewide scanning in paired population samples from Mali, followed by resequencing and genotyping from five locations in West, Central, and East Africa. Genome scans revealed a significant peak of M-S divergence on chromosome 31, overlapping five known or suspected immune response genes. Resequencing implicated a selective target at or near the TEP1 gene, whose complement C3-like product has antiparasitic and antibacterial activity. Sequencing and allele-specific genotyping showed that an allelic variant of TEP1 has been swept to fixation in M samples from Mali and Burkina Faso and is spreading into neighboring Ghana, but is absent from M sampled in Cameroon, and from all sampled S populations. Sequence comparison demonstrates that this allele is related to, but distinct from, TEP1 alleles of known resistance phenotype. Experimental parasite infections of advanced mosquito intercrosses demonstrated a strong association between this TEP1 variant and resistance to both rodent malaria and the native human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Although malaria parasites may not be direct agents of pathogen-mediated selection at TEP1 in nature-where larvae may be the more vulnerable, life stage-the process of adaptive divergence between M and S has potential consequences for malaria transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *ANOPHELES gambiae
*MALARIA
*ANOPHELES
*PLASMODIUM falciparum
*LARVAE
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00278424
- Volume :
- 108
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 58666879
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1013648108