GENE FLOW AMONG ANOPHELES ALBIMANUS POPULATIONS IN CENTRAL AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN ASSESSED BY MICROSATELLITES AND MITOCHONDRIAL DNA

Abstract

Gene flow was examined among Anopheles albimanus populations from Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela by examining variation at four microsatellite (MS) loci and a mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) marker. There was little variation among Central American populations and weak isolation by distance was only observed with the MS loci. There was moderate to large variation between Central and South American populations, suggesting a barrier to gene flow between Central and South America. However, Panamanian and Pacific Costa Rican populations differed with respect to western Central America, suggesting that there may be another barrier within Central America. There was small to moderate variation among Caribbean and continental populations. Phylogenetic and diversity analyses of mtDNA indicate that more ancestral and diverse haplotypes were present in the Caribbean population, suggesting that current continental An. albimanus populations may have originated from the Caribbean.