Anopheles gambiae

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Anopheles gambiae
Anopheles gambiae stinging

Anopheles gambiae stinging

Systematics
Order : Fly (Diptera)
Subordination : Mosquitoes (Nematocera)
Family : Mosquitoes (Culicidae)
Subfamily : Anophelinae
Genre : Malaria mosquitoes ( Anopheles )
Type : Anopheles gambiae
Scientific name
Anopheles gambiae
Giles , 1902

Anopheles gambiae is a single mosquito species from the genus Anopheles , subgenus Cellia . In a broader sense, a group of six African Anopheles species ( cryptospecies )indistinguishable on the basis of external characteristics is summarized as an Anopheles gambiae complex. Some species of the Anopheles gambiae complex are among the most efficient and therefore most dangerous carriers of malaria .

Anopheles gambiae in the strict sense

Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto (in the narrower sense) was discovered around 1900 on the Gambia River , about 150 miles inland. Until the 1930s the name An. gambiae did not prevail, the species name Anopheles costalis Loew (1866), now regarded as invalid, was still used. The names An. gracilis Dönitz (1902), An. minor Holstein (1949) and An. typicus Holstein (1949) are further synonyms .

On. gambiae is one of the best vectors for malaria pathogens. Their genome was completely sequenced in 2002 and subsequent years. The two autosomes and two sex chromosomes each contain, together with the genome of the mitochondrion , 407,600,122 base pairs and 12,456 genes .

Anopheles gambiae complex

Some species that can hardly be distinguished from Anopheles gambiae morphologically are grouped together in the Anopheles gambiae complex. They occur in large parts of sub-Saharan Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula. Six species are now counted in this complex:

  • Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto Giles (1902)
  • Anopheles arabiensis Patton (1905)
  • Anopheles quadriannulatus Theobald (1911)
  • Anopheles bwambae White (1985)
  • Anopheles merus Dönitz (1902)
  • Anopheles melas Theobald (1903)

Anopheles arabiensis is found in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the drier areas of Africa. She is like An. gambiae s. st. a very efficient malaria vector as it sucks blood preferentially in humans. The species Anopheles quadriannulatus occurs in South Africa, where it was found, for example, in the Transvaal and Witwatersrand . It is considered a comparatively inefficient malaria vector because it often stings animals and is rarely found in human dwellings. Anopheles bwambae was first found in 1945 in an uninhabited jungle in the Bwamba region in western Uganda . Anopheles melas occurs on the coasts of West Africa , Anopheles merus along the East African coasts. Both species can breed in salt or brackish water .

These species were initially called An. gambiae sensu lato (in the broader sense) summarized. At the beginning of the 1960s, a distinction was made between species A (today An. Gambiae s.str) and species B (today An. Arabiensis ) and species C (today An. Quadriannulatus ). On. bwambae was first designated as species D in 1972.

Combat in Brazil

In 1930 the entomologist Raymond Shannon found larvae of Anopheles gambiae near the port city of Natal in northeast Brazil . The species was apparently brought in from Africa by ship. The Brazilian authorities took no action against the mosquitoes, allowing them to spread in northeastern Brazil. The next few years were quite dry, the populations remained low and there were only isolated cases of malaria. In 1938, however, a malaria epidemic broke out in the course of which 100,000 people fell ill, 20,000 of whom died. The Rockefeller Foundation financed the fight against the introduced Anopheles gambiae under the direction of Fred Lowe Soper . About 4,000 helpers poisoned the breeding grounds with Parisian greenery or prevented the larvae from breathing by spreading diesel oil on the surface of the water. The houses and apartments in the malaria area were sprayed with pyrethrum , as were all the cars, trains and planes that left the region. After 22 months, Anopheles gambiae was exterminated in Brazil in 1941 .

Protection against mosquito bites

The anthropophilic Anopheles sp. find their hosts primarily by recognizing the CO 2 excretion of the breath (approx. 300 ml / min are sufficient). When there is no wind, female Anopheles gambiae naked women prefer to prick the soles of the feet and ankles. These are the areas of the human body in which bacteria of the Brevibacterium epidermis species live, which produce short-chain fatty acids and thus produce the characteristic “cheese smell”. However, the mosquitoes are also attracted by the products of the related Brevibacterium linens , which are responsible for the characteristic smell of Limburg cheese . It has been proven that washing the feet with odor-free medical soap and setting traps based on Limburger odorous substances can reduce the number of bites.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ PF Mattingly: Names for the Anopheles gambiae Complex ( Memento of July 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 152 kB). Mosquito Systematics, Vol. 9 (3) 1977, pp. 323-328.
  2. ↑ MapViewer entry .
  3. ↑ Proteome at UniProt .
  4. ↑ Holt RA, Subramanian GM, Halpern A, et al. : The genome sequence of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae . In: Science . 298, No. 5591, October 2002, pp. 129-49. doi : 10.1126 / science.1076181 . PMID 12364791 .
  5. ↑ Anopheles gambiae complex . Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
  6. ↑ G. Davidson, RH Hunt: The crossing and chromosome characteristics of a new, sixth species in the Anopheles gambiae complex ( Memento of July 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Parassitologia, Vol. XV - 1-2, Aprile-Agosto 1973.
  7. ^ GB White: Notes on a Catalog of Culicidae of the Ethiopian Region . ( Memento of July 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 736 kB) Mosquito Systematics, Vol. 7 (4) 1975, pp. 303-344.
  8. ↑ NJ Besansky, JR Powell, A. Caccone, DM Hamm, JA Scott & FH Collins: Molecular phylogeny of the Anopheles gambiae complex Suggests genetic introgression between principal malaria vectors . In: PNAS . 91, No. 15, 1994, pp. 6885-6888.
  9. ^ Malcolm Gladwell : Fred Soper and the Global Malaria Eradication Program . Journal of Public Health Policy, 2002. JSTOR 3343244
  10. ↑ BG Knols, R. De Jong: Limburger cheese as an attractant for the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae ss In: Parasitology today (Personal ed.). Volume 12, Number 4, April 1996, pp. 159-161, PMID 15275226 .
  11. ↑ Jay Keystone: Of Bites and Body odor . The Lancet , May 25, 1996, p. 1423.

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