Abstract
BackgroundAnopheles maculatus (s.s.) is an important vector of malaria in Indonesia. Previously it was considered the only member of the Maculatus Group present in Indonesia. A novel species was recently identified in the Kulon Progo District in Central Java. Until recently, few investigations have been conducted looking at An. maculatus genetic diversity in Indonesia, including allopatric island populations.MethodsIndonesian An. maculatus (s.l.) samples were collected in several locations in Java, Lesser Sunda Island group, Sumatra and in Kulon Progo (Yogyakarta, central Java) where a novel species has been identified. Samples from a 30-year-old colony of the Kulon Progo population were also included in the analysis. Maximum-likelihood analysis established the phylogenies of the ITS2 (nuclear) and cox1 (mitochondrial) markers. Putative times of separation were based on cox1 genetic distances.ResultsTwo species of the Maculatus Group are present in Indonesia. The novel sibling species is more closely related to Anopheles dispar than to An. maculatus (s.s.). Anopheles maculatus (s.s.) samples are homogeneous based on the ITS2 sequences. Indonesian samples and An. dispar belong to the same cox1 maternal lineage and differ from all other known members of the Maculatus Group. Divergence time between the different populations found in Java was estimated using an established cox1 mutation rate.ConclusionsA novel species within the Maculatus Group, most closely related to An. dispar, is confirmed present in the Kulon Progo area of Central Java. The divergence of this species from An. maculatus (s.s.) is explained by the stable refugia in the Kulon Progo area during the quaternary period of intense volcanic activity throughout most of Java. This novel species awaits detailed morphological description before applying a formal species name. For the interim, it is proposed that the Kulon Progo population be designated An. maculatus var. menoreh to distinguish it from An. maculatus (s.s.).
Highlights
Anopheles maculatus (s.s.) is an important vector of malaria in Indonesia
A laboratory strain of An. maculatus originating from Kulon Progo and under continuous colonization for greater than 30 years at the NIHRD-IVRCRD laboratory in Salatiga, Central Java [23] was compared with more recent field samples from Kulon Progo collected in 2015
Anopheles maculatus (s.s.) was previously believed to be the only member of the Maculatus Group present in Indonesia, a species regarded as an important vector of malaria in certain localities [6]
Summary
Anopheles maculatus (s.s.) is an important vector of malaria in Indonesia. It was considered the only member of the Maculatus Group present in Indonesia. Anopheles maculatus has been recorded in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Bali, Lesser Sunda Islands including East Timor (Democratic Republic of TimorLeste), and Sulawesi [8]. Based on phenotypic characteristics, crossmating experiments, cytogenetic and molecular analyses, the Maculatus Group [11] is divided into two subgroups and nine species [3, 10, 12]. The four other species in the group include Anopheles greeni Rattanarithikul & Harbach, 1991, Anopheles dispar Rattanarithikul & Harbach, 1991, Anopheles willmori James, 1903 and Anopheles pseudowillmori Theobald, 1910 [12, 15, 16]
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