Genetic isolation within the malaria mosquito Anopheles melas

Anopheles melas is a brackish water-breeding member of the An. gambiae complex that is distributed along the coast of West Africa and is a major malaria vector within its range. Because little is known about the population structure of this species, we analyzed 15 microsatellite markers and 1,161 bp of mtDNA in 11 An. melas populations collected throughout its range. Compared to its sibling species An. gambiae, An. melas populations have a high level of genetic differentiation between them, representing its patchy distribution due to its fragmented larval habitat which is associated with mangroves and salt marsh grass. Populations clustered into three distinct groups representing Western Africa, Southern Africa, and Bioko Island populations that appear to be mostly isolated. Fixed differences in the mtDNA are present between all three clusters, and a Bayesian clustering analysis of the microsatellite data found no evidence for migration from mainland to Bioko Island populations, and lit...