Genetic structure of Aedes aegypti populations determined using pairwise comparisons

The biological characteristics of Aedes aegypti (Diptera, Culicidae), which is a vector of dengue and yellow fever, make this organism a good model for studying population structure and the events that may influence it under the effect of human activity. We assessed the genetic variability of five A. aegypti populations using RAPD-PCR technique and six primers. Four populations were from Brazil and one was from the USA. A total of 165 polymorphic DNA loci were generated. Considering the six primers and the five populations, the mean value of inter-population genetic diversity (Gst) was 0.277, which is considered high according to the Wright classification. However, pairwise comparisons of the populations gave variable Gst values ranging from 0.044 to 0.289. This variation followed the population's geographic distance to some extent but was also influenced by human activity. The lowest Gst values were obtained in the comparison of populations from cities with intensive commercial and medical contacts. These mosquito populations were previously classified as insecticide resistant, susceptible, or with decreased susceptibility; this parameter apparently had an effect on the Gst values obtained in the pairwise comparisons.