HOYOS-LOPEZ, RICHARD; ROMAN PARDO, STEPHANIE; CASTANO, JHON CARLOS    GALLEGO-GOMEZ, JUAN CARLOS. DNA barcode for typing of immature mosquitoes from Armenia and Circasia (Quindío, Colombia). []. , 41, 2, pp.218-227. ISSN 0120-0488.

The exploitation of urban habitats by mosquitoes species contributes to the epidemiological risk of transmission of emerging and re-emerging tropical diseases, indicating the need to establish fast and effective procedures than enable the taxonomic identification of species of interest to public health. DNA-barcode methodology uses sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I genes for the identification of a wide range of animal species and is an alternative evaluation tool for important groups of tropical medical importance. In this study, entomological samplings were performed at breeding sites of urban areas in Armenia and Circasia (Quindío-Colombia) in order to identify the morphology of mosquito larvae and to assess DNA-barcodes. Fifty-six (56) DNA-barcode sequences were obtained for immatures of the Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti, Culex (Culex) quinquefasciatus, Cx. (Phenacomyia) corniger, Cx. (Culex) nigripalpus, and Cx. (Culex) Coronator groups and estimates of genetic diversity, intra/inter-species genetic distances, and neighbor-joining dendrograms were found. The results allowed for the taxonomic identification of mosquitoes and the separation of potentially useful molecular markers within the genetics of these populations; however, for species belonging to the Culex–Coronatorgroup, the molecular markers had insufficient information for the taxonomic separation of species. Epidemiologically, urban mosquitoes identified have been implicated in the past in the transmission of emerging and re-emerging alphavirus and flavivirus of interest to Colombian public health. Thus, the use of DNA-barcoding may be useful in ecological studies in urban areas and in the epidemiological surveillance of emerging pathogens.

: Culicidae; Immatures; Genetic distances; Neighbor-joining.

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