Organization and evolution of heterochromatin in malaria mosquitoes

The African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae was the first disease vector chosen for genome sequencing. Although its genome assembly has been facilitated by physical mapping, large gaps still pose a serious problem for accurate annotation and genome analysis. The majority of the gaps are located in regions of pericentromeric and intercalary heterochromatin. Genomic analysis has identified protein-coding genes and various classes of repetitive elements in the Anopheles heterochromatin. Molecular and cytogenetic studies have demonstrated that heterochromatin is a structurally heterogeneous and rapidly evolving part of the malaria mosquito genome.