Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
São Paulo Institute of Tropical Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2019 Aug 2;14(8):e0220773. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220773. eCollection 2019.
Aedes albopictus is an invasive mosquito species that has spread globally and can transmit several arboviruses, including dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. The species was first reported in Brazil in 1986 and since then has been found in 24 of the 27 Brazilian states, often in peri-urban environments close to highly urbanized areas. To date, population genetics of this important mosquito in areas in the city of São Paulo has not been investigated. In this study, we used 12 microsatellite loci to investigate the microgeographic population genetics of Ae. albopictus, which is present throughout the city of São Paulo. All the analyses revealed structuring of the populations studied, divided into two groups with restricted gene flow between them and without evidence of isolation by distance. We propose two hypotheses to explain the results: (i) low dispersal capability-limited gene flow between populations is due to the low dispersal capability inherent to Ae. albopictus; and (ii) multiple introductions-the structure identified here results from multiple introductions, which led to different dispersal patterns within the city and more genetic heterogeneity. The ability of Ae. albopictus to invade new areas and expand may explain why these mosquito populations appear to be well established and thriving in the city of São Paulo.
白纹伊蚊是一种具有全球分布的入侵性蚊种，可传播多种虫媒病毒，包括登革热、基孔肯雅热和黄热病。该物种于 1986 年在巴西首次报告，此后已在巴西 27 个州中的 24 个州发现，通常在接近高度城市化地区的城市周边环境中。迄今为止，尚未对圣保罗市地区的这种重要蚊子进行种群遗传学研究。在这项研究中，我们使用了 12 个微卫星基因座来研究广泛分布于圣保罗市的白纹伊蚊的微地理种群遗传学。所有分析均揭示了所研究种群的结构，分为两组，两组之间基因流受限，不存在距离隔离的证据。我们提出了两个假设来解释结果：（i）低扩散能力-种群之间有限的基因流是由于白纹伊蚊固有的低扩散能力；（ii）多次引入-这里确定的结构是由多次引入引起的，这导致了城市内部不同的扩散模式和更高的遗传异质性。白纹伊蚊入侵新地区和扩张的能力可能解释了为什么这些蚊子种群在圣保罗市似乎已经很好地建立并繁衍生息。
