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POPULATION STRUCTURE OF ANOPHELES ARABIENSIS ON LA RÉUNION ISLAND, INDIAN OCEAN

Anopheles arabiensis, together with Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto, are the most important vectors of human malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. The malaria situation keeps worsening, with 1 to 3 million deaths a year, and alternative strategies are needed to decrease malaria transmission intensity. In this paper, we studied the population structure of An. arabiensis from three sample sites on the remote Indian Ocean island of La Réunion. Our results showed strong genetic structuring between An. arabiensis populations on La Réunion, indicating the presence of barriers to gene flow. Reasons for such a high genetic differentiation are discussed, including the role of intensive control measures that have maintained reduced effective population size as well as a putative genetic adaptation to the environment. This strong structuring situation on the island represents an ideal framework for the prospect of genetic-based control trials.

Received March 5, 2005. Accepted for publication July 11, 2005.

Acknowledgments: We would like to thank the technical team in charge of vector surveillance and control on La Réunion island for help with larval collections. We acknowledge Maureen Coetzee, two anonymous reviewers, and the journal editor for their help in improving a former version of this paper.

Financial support: The authors thank the IRD-UR016 for financial support.

^* Address correspondence to Isabelle Morlais, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), BP 1857, Yaoundé, Cameroon. E-mail: morlais{at}ird.fr

Authors’ addresses: Isabelle Morlais and Frédéric Simard, Organisation de Coordination pour la lutte contre les Endémies en Afrique Centrale, BP 288, Yaoundé, Cameroon, Telephone: (+237) 223-2232, Fax: (+237) 223-0061 and Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), BP 1857, Yaoundé, Cameroon, Telephone: (+237) 220-1508, Fax: (+237) 220-1854. Didier Fontenille, Laboratoire De Lutte Contre Les Insectes Nuisibles, Institut De Recherche Pour Le Développement, 911 Av Agropolis, BP 64501, 34 394 Montpellier Cedex 5, France, Telephone: (+33) 467-043222, Fax: (+33) 467-542044. Romain Girod, Institut de Médecine Tropicale du Service de Santé des Armées, Unité d’Entomologie Médicale, BP 46, 13998 Marseille Armées, France, Telephone: (+33) 491-150194, Fax: (+33) 491-150184. Richard Hunt, Animal, Plant & Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, Telephone (+27) 11-386-6480, Fax: (+27) 11-386-6481.

Reprint requests: Isabelle Morlais, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), BP 1857, Yaoundé, Cameroon, Telephone: (+237) 220-1508, Fax: (+237) 220-1854, E-mail: morlais{at}ird.fr.