Population genetic structure and bionomics of Anopheles lesteri in China

描述(申请人提供)：项目摘要：疟疾是中国面临的一个重要公共卫生问题。世界卫生组织估计，2003年中国每年的疟疾病例约为74万例。疟疾暴发经常发生在中国中部。雷氏按蚊是中国和韩国的主要疟疾媒介，对间日疟原虫和恶性疟原虫高度敏感。尽管雷氏疟原虫在疟疾传播中很重要，但人们对这种疟疾媒介物种的种群遗传学和生态学知之甚少。对雷氏艾美耳球虫种群的研究不足，部分原因是其分类学上的困难和鉴定该物种的手段不足。在过去的几年里，我们开发了一种分子鉴定方法来区分莱斯特氏菌和兄弟物种，从而使我们能够研究这种重要的疟疾媒介的生态学和遗传学。初步研究表明，不同地理位置的雷氏沼虾种群在形态特征、生物学特性(如寄主选择、幼虫栖息地等)和染色体核型等方面存在差异。本研究旨在加深对中国雷氏沼虾种群遗传结构和生物学特性的了解。本研究的两个具体目标是：1)确定雷氏沼虾种群的遗传结构；2)考察雷氏沼虾生物学中的地理变异，包括寄主取食偏好和幼虫栖息地选择。这个项目的一个独特之处在于，它将莱斯特氏菌的种群遗传学与其生态学联系起来。该项目的预期成果包括更好地了解莱斯特按蚊的生态学和遗传学，以及其生物学的地理变异。这些信息对于设计合理的特定区域的病媒控制方法特别有用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary: Malaria is an important public health problem in China. The World Health Organization estimated that the annual number of malaria cases in China was about 740,000 in 2003. Malaria outbreaks often occur in central China. The mosquito Anopheles lesteri is the primary malaria vector in China and Korea, and it is highly susceptible to both Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum. Despite the importance of A. lesteri in malaria transmission, little is known about the population genetics and ecology of this malaria vector species. The scantiness of research on A. lesteri population has been partly due to difficulties with its taxonomy and inadequate means of identifying the species. In the past several years we have developed a molecular identification method to distinguish A. lesteri from sibling species, thus enabling us to study the ecology and genetics of this important malaria vector. Preliminary studies suggest that the morphological characters, bionomics (such as host preference and larval habitat), and chromosomal karyotype of A. lesteri differ among populations from different geographic localities. The proposed research aims to improve our understanding of the population genetic structure and bionomics of A. lesteri in China. The 2 specific aims are: 1) To determine the population genetic structure of A. lesteri, and 2) To examine geographic variation in A. lesteri bionomics, including host-feeding preference and larval habitat selection. A unique aspect of this project is that it links the population genetics of A. lesteri with its ecology. The anticipated outcomes of this project include a better understanding of the ecology and genetics of A. lesteri mosquitoes as well as the geographic variation of its bionomics. This information is particularly useful for the design of rational area-specific vector control methods.