Dataset Information

Wing morphometric variability in Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) from different urban built environments.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Aedes aegypti is the main vector of the dengue, Zika and several other arboviruses. It is highly adapted to urbanized environments and can be found worldwide. Mosquito population control is considered the best strategy for fighting mosquito-borne diseases, making an understanding of their population dynamics vital for the development of more effective vector control programs. This study therefore sought to investigate how different levels of urbanization affect Aedes aegypti populations and modulate population structure in this species with the aid of wing geometric morphometrics.

Methods

Specimens were collected from eleven locations in three areas with distinct levels of urbanization in the city of São Paulo, Brazil: conserved, intermediate and urbanized. The right wings of female mosquitoes collected were removed, and photographed and digitized. Canonical variate analysis and Mahalanobis distance were used to investigate the degree of wing-shape dissimilarity among populations. Thin-plate splines were calculated by regression analysis of Canonical Variation Analysis scores against wing-shape variation, and a cross-validated reclassification was performed for each individual; a neighbor-joining tree was then constructed.

Results

Metapopulation and individual population analysis showed a clear segregation pattern in the Canonical Variation Analysis. Pairwise cross-validated reclassification yielded relatively high scores considering the microgeographical scale of the study and the fact that the study populations belong to the same species. The neighbor-joining tree showed that mosquitoes in the intermediate urban area segregated in the metapopulation and individual population analyses. Our findings show significant population structuring in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in the areas studied. This is related to the different degrees of urbanization in the areas where the specimens were collected along with their geographical location.

Conclusions

Urbanization processes in the study areas appear to play an important role in microevolutionary processes triggered by man-made modifications in the environment, resulting in a previously unknown population structuring pattern of major epidemiological importance.

SUBMITTER: Wilk-da-Silva R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6203966 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector of dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya, and Zika viruses. Infection with the dengue virus alone occurs in an estimated 400 million people each year. Likelihood of infection with a virus transmitted by Ae. aegypti is most commonly attributed to abundance of the mosquito. However, the Arizona-Sonora desert region has abundant Ae. aegypti in most urban areas, yet local transmission of these arboviruses has not been reported in many of these cities. Previous work examined the role of differential Ae. aegypti longevity as a potential explanation for these discrepancies in transmission. To determine factors that were associated with Ae. aegypti longevity in the region, we collected eggs from ovitraps in Tucson, AZ and reared them under multiple experimental conditions in the laboratory to examine the relative impact of temperature and crowding during development, body size, fecundity, and relative humidity during the adult stage. Of the variables studied, we found that the combination of temperature during development, relative humidity, and body size produced the best model to explain variation in age at death. El mosquito Aedes aegypti es el vector primario de los virus de dengue, fiebre amarilla, chikungunya y Zika. Solamente las infecciones con los virus de dengue ocurren en aproximadamente 400 millones de personas cada año. La probabilidad de infección con un virus transmitido por Ae. aegypti es frecuentemente atribuido a la abundancia del mosquito. No obstante, la región del desierto de Arizona-Sonora tiene una abundancia de Ae. aegypti en la mayoría de las áreas urbanas, pero la transmisión local de estos arbovirus no ha sido reportada en muchas de estas ciudades. Trabajos previos han examinado el rol de las diferencias de longevidad en Ae. aegypti como explicación potencial por estas discrepancias en la transmisión. Para determinar que factores fueron asociados con longevidad en Ae. aegypti en la región, colectamos huevos de ovitrampas en Tucson, Arizona y los criamos debajo de múltiples condiciones experimentales en el laboratorio para examinar el impacto relativo de temperatura y competencia para nutrición durante desarrollo, tamaño del cuerpo, capacidad reproductiva, y humedad relativa durante adultez. De las variables estudiados, encontramos que la combinación de temperatura durante desarrollo, humedad relativa, y tamaño del cuerpo produjo el mejor modelo para explicar variación en edad al tiempo de la muerte.