Reexamination of Culex pipiens hybridization zone in the Eastern United States by ribosomal DNA-based single nucleotide polymorphism markers.

Mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex are important vectors of several disease-causing pathogens, including West Nile virus. In North America, the complex consists of Cx. pipiens pipiens form pipiens, Cx. pipiens pipiens form molestus, Cx. pipiens quinquefasciatus, and their hybrids that exhibit substantial diversity in physiology, behavior, and geographic range. Hybridization among these mosquitoes is of concern because of potential implications for disease transmission. Currently, several morphological and molecular markers exist for differentiating members of the Cx. pipiens complex; however, these markers have specific limitations. We report here two highly reliable ribosomal DNA-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, CxpG2T and CxpA2d, for detecting Cx. pipiens complex mosquitoes containing Cx. p. quinquefasciatus alleles. Both CxpG2T and CxpA2d contain one allele that is present in all members of the Cx. pipiens complex, and the other allele is specific to Cx. p. quinquefasciatus. Testing of field populations from the eastern United States showed that these two SNP markers are capable of identifying a south to north gradient of Cx. p. quinquefasciatus and hybrids. The northern limit of detection of Cx. p. quinquefasciatus alleles in this study was in Fort Totten, NY (40.79°N), whereas the southern boundary was determined between Atlanta, GA (33.81°N) and Gainesville, FL (29.64°N). CxpG2T and CxpA2d were more accurate than the ACE-2 marker, and they may conceivably provide comparable resolution with microsatellite markers for detecting Cx. p. quinquefasciatus alleles.