Morphological and molecular characterization of Anopheles (Anopheles) sacharovi Favre, a primary vector of malaria in the Middle East |
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| Authors: | Mohammad Mehdi Sedaghat † Yvonne-Marie Linton† Gabriela Nicolescu‡ Lisa Smith† George Koliopoulos§ Athanassios K Zounos§ Mohammad Ali Oshaghi Hassan Vatandoost Ralph E Harbach† |
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| Institution: | Department of Medical Entomology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,;Department of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, London, U.K.,;Department of Medical Entomology, Cantacuzino Institute, Bucharest, Romania,;Laboratory of Insecticides of Public Health Importance, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Athens, Greece |
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| Abstract: | Abstract. Combined morphological and molecular studies were conducted on Anopheles ( Anopheles ) sacharovi Favre, an important malaria vector of the Palaearctic Maculipennis Complex. Specimens collected in Greece and Iran were identified on the basis of morphology and confirmed by correlation of their nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) rDNA sequences with those available in GenBank. The progeny of females collected in Greece were used for detailed morphological study. The morphology of the adults, pupa, fourth-instar larva and egg are described and distinguished from those of An. maculipennis , the nominotypical member of the Maculipennis Complex. In addition to sequence data for the nuclear ITS2 region, partial sequence data are provided for the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene. The taxonomy, systematics, bionomics and distribution of the species are reviewed. This work provides the first fully integrated assessment of An. sacharovi as a basis for comparative studies of the Maculipennis Complex. |
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