Population differentiation of the malaria vector Anopheles aquasalis using mitochondrial DNA

Populations of the malaria vector Anopheles aquasalis from Venezuela, Trinidad, and Brazil were analyzed using restriction enzyme digestion of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The five enzymes surveyed yielded 12 mtDNA haplotypes. Three restriction endonuclease profiles (Bcl I, Eco RI, and Hind III) differentiated the Venezuelan and Trinidadian A. aquasalis from two Brazilian populations. Estimates of mtDNA sequence divergence between the Venezuelan/Trinidadian populations and each Brazilian population (0.023-0.032), as well as divergence between the two Brazilian populations (0.030), were within the range of interspecific distances calculated for members of anopheline species complexes. Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) restriction profiles of the A. aquasalis populations examined were identical.