Tehran University Medical Journal

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Background: Malaria is still one of the main health problems in south and southeast provinces of Iran and recently on average 10,000-30,000 malaria cases were reported annually. Mosquitoes of Anopheles superpictus are one of the main malaria vectors in Iran and have been reported from all areas of the country including central plateau and plains of Alborz and Zagrous Mountains chains, and with low numbers in shore plains of the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea. There are variations in larval and adult morphological characters and also in vectorial capacity of this species in different areas of Iran.
Methods: This study has been conducted to investigate rate of mtDNA variation among various populations of this species in Iran. The sequence variation of an 1512 bp length of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome oxidase subunits 1 and 2 (COI-COII) and an 708 bp sequences of COI gene were analyzed by PCR-RFLP and PCR-direct sequencing respectively.
Results: This study showed that there are considerable variations between and within populations. Rate of variation was 12.3 % between populations and this was 2-5% for within Baluchistan population. Totally 4 haplotypes were observed between populations where 3 occur in Baluchistan and one in other places.
Conclusion: This is the first report on existence of various haplotypes in An. superpictus in science, and presumably this species comprising siblings and is a species complex. Further studies need to confirm this result and to determine the relationship between mtDNA haplotypes and their role in malaria transmission in each locality.

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Background: Anopheles superpictus is one of the main malaria vectors in Iran. The mosquitoes of this species are found throughout the Iranian plateau up to 2000 meters above sea level in the Alborz Mountains, south of the Zagros Mountains, and in the plains near the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf. It has been reported that different geographical populations of An. superpictus play different roles in malaria transmission. Based on the presence or absence of a black spot/band on the apical segment of the female maxillary palpi, two morphological forms have been reported in this species. This work has been conducted to study other morphological features as well as the genetic structure of these two forms of An. superpictus in Iran.

Methods: The different morphological characteristics of 35 different populations were observed and recorded. An 887 bp portion of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) was amplified and assayed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) using 18 enzymes and PCR-direct sequencing techniques.

Results: Among the morphological characteristics studied, there are significant differences between the two forms with regard to the length of the palp light band (p<0.01), wing length (p<0.5), and the distance from the branching point of the II/IV veins to the tip of the wing (p<0.05). Results also revealed that these two forms are sympatric in most localities of Iran. RFLP analysis and sequences of about 710 bp of the gene showed that there was great variation between and/or within the populations, but these variations were not associated with the morphological forms.

Conclusion: This is the first comprehensive study on the morphological and molecular characteristics of An. superpictus in the literature. To determine the role of these morphological forms or genetic haplotypes in malaria transmission, further molecular, cytological, morphological, and epidemiological studies are necessary.