Development of a Rapid Method for Distinguishing the Malaria Vectors, Anopheles Gambiae from Anopheles Arabiensis.

摘要

An. gambiae and An. arabiensis, the primary African vectors of human malaria, are reproductively isolated but morphologically indistinguishable species. They are sympatric and probably not equally involved in all cases of malaria transmission. They are only reliably distinguished cytogenetically, thus making epidemiological studies difficult. Under a previous contract we developed an RFLP assay based upon a ribosomal DNA probe which distinguished all member species in the complex. The present studies utilized this RFLP to design species-specific oligonucleotides which are used to probe dot blots. Thus the need for DNA extraction, restriction enzyme digestion, and the running and blotting of gels are eliminated. A species specific restriction fragment from An. gambiae was also studied as a means for augmenting the oligonucleotide probes. The oligonucleotide probes were shown to be species-specific and useful for a rapid dot blot assay. Keywords: Oligonucleotides; Species identification; Anopheline malaria vector; RA 1. (KT)