Population genomics of two invasive mosquitoes ( < i > Aedes aegypti < /i > and < i > Aedes albopictus < /i > ) from the Indo-Pacific

This study analyses the population genomics of 480 of these mosquitoes sampled from 27 locations in the Indo-Pacific. We investigated patterns of genome-wide genetic differentiation to compare pathways of invasion and ongoing gene flow in both species, and to compare invasive and native-range populations ofAe.albopictus. We also tested landscape genomic hypotheses that genetic differentiation would increase with geographical distance and be lower between locations with high connectivity to human transportation routes, the primary means of dispersal at these scales. We found that genetic distances were generally higher inAe.aegypti, with Pacific populations the most highly differentiated. The most differentiatedAe.albopictus populations were in Vanuatu, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the latter two representing potential native-range populations and potential cryptic subspeciation respectively. Genetic distances inAe.aegypti increased with geographical distance, while inAe.albopictus they decreased with higher connectivity to human transportation routes. Contrary to the situation inAe.aegypti, we found evidence of long-distanceAe.albopictus colonisation events, including colonisation of Mauritius from East Asia and of Fiji from Southeast Asia. These direct genomic comparisons indicate likely differences in dispersal ecology in these species, despite their broadly sympatric distributions and similar use of human transport to disperse. Our findings will assist biosecurity operations t...
Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Source Type: research