Biology subjects

Aguirre Obando, O. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Aguirre Obando, O. A..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

North America Insect Invades the World: the Case of the Flood Mosquito, Aedes vexans (Diptera: Culicidae), from Mitochondrial DNA

The flood mosquito, Aedes vexans (Diptera: Culicidae), native of Canada, and currently present in all continents, has a vector competence for 30 arboviruses, being responsible for transmitting diseases, like West Nile fever, Rift Valley fever, Saint Louis Encephalitis and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. Hence, knowing the structure and gene flow of A. vexans is important to develop adequate vector control strategies for this species. For this, from partial sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene available in Bold and GenBank, it was possible to determine the Haplotypic (Hd) and nucleotide ({pi}) gene diversity, genetic structuring and gene flow at global, continental, and country levels. In total, 1184 sequences were recovered, distributed between America (88.60%), Europe (7.35%), Asia (3.89%), and Africa (0.17%). From these, 395 haplotypes (H) were detected without presence of pseudogenes (NUMTs), with H1 being the most frequent (24.58%) and between H12 - H395 the least frequent varying between 0.93% (H12) and 0.08% (H395). Phylogenetically, the haplotypes were grouped into six clades. Clade I grouped haplotypes from countries in America and Europe, while clades II and III presented haplotypes exclusively from Asia and Europe; clade IV grouped only one haplotype from Africa and the last ultimo clade V grouped haplotypes from America and Africa. The global Hd and {pi} was 0.92 and 0.01, respectively. In addition, evidence was obtained of genetic structuring among continents (7.07%), countries (1.62%), and within countries (91.30%; FST = 0.08, p < 0.05) and no isolation by distance was detected (r = 0.003, p > 0.05). These results suggest that the mosquito populations that invaded other continents originate directly from the American continent, where possibly transcontinental commercial routes favored their long-distance dispersion.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2020

Potential geographic distribution of the Tiger Mosquito Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) (Diptera: Culicidae) in current and future conditions for Colombia

In Colombia, little is known on the distribution of the Asian mosquito Aedes albopictus, main vector of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika in Asia and Oceania. Therefore, this work set out to estimate its current and future potential geographic distribution under the Representative Concentration Paths (RCP) 2.6 and 8.5 emission scenarios by 2050 and 2070, using ecological niche models. For this, predictions were made in MaxEnt, employing occurrences of A. albopictus from their native area and South America and bioclimatic variables of these places. It was found that, since its invasion to Colombia, A. albopictus is present in 47% of the country, in peri-urban (20%), rural (23%), and urban (57%) areas between 0 and 1800 m, with Antioquia and Valle del Cauca being the departments with the most registries. The current estimation suggests that A. albopictus is distributed in 96% of the territory up to 3000 m (p < 0.001). Additionally, by 2050 and 2070, below RCP 2.6, its distribution could diminish to nearly 90% including altitudes of 3100 m, while below RCP 8.5 it would be < 60% increasing its distribution up to 3200 m. These results suggest that, currently in Colombia, A. albopictus is found throughout the country and climate change could diminish eventually its area of distribution, but increase its altitudinal range. In Colombia, surveillance and vector control programs must focus their attention on this vector to avoid complications in the national public health setting.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Effect of Altitude on Wing Metric Variation of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) in a Region of the Colombian Central Andes

In mosquitoes of medical importance, wing shape and size can vary with altitude, an aspect that can influence dispersion and, consequently, their vector capacity. Using geometric morphometry analysis, Aedes aegypti wing size and shape variation of males and females was studied in four altitudes in the second-smallest department in Colombia: 1.200 m (Tebaida), 1.400 m (Armenia), 1.500 m (Calarca), and 1.700 m (Filandia). Wing shape in males (P < 0.001) and females (P < 0.001) was significantly different through the altitudinal gradient; in turn, wing size in males followed the altitudinal gradient (Males R2 = 0.04946, P = 0.0002), Females (R2 = 0.0011, P = 0.46). Wing allometry for males (P < 0.001) and females (P < 0.001) was significant. Likewise, the shape and size of the wings of males (P < 0.001) and females (P < 0.001) had significant fluctuating asymmetry. It is concluded that, in a small scale with an altitudinal variation of 500 meters, it is detected that the size and shape of the wings varied in A. aegypti, principal vector of dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. The fluctuating asymmetry is present in the individuals studied and could be associated with environmental effects caused by vector control campaigns present in some sampling locations.

evolutionary biology↗