First description of the mitogenome and phylogeny:Aedes vexansand Ochlerotatus caspius of the Tribe Aedini (Diptera: Culicidae)

Sequencing and Analysis of the Mitochondrial Genome of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) from the Brazilian Amazon Region

Aedes aegypti is a mosquito native to the African continent, which is now widespread in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In many regions, it represents a major challenge to public health, given its role in the cycle of transmission of important arboviruses, such as Dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya. Considering the epidemiological importance of Ae. aegypti, the present study sequenced the partial mitochondrial genome of a sample collected in the municipality of Balsas, in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, followed by High Throughput Sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. The mitochondrial sequence obtained here was 15,863 bp long, and contained 37 functional subunits (thirteen PCGs, twenty-two tRNAs and two rRNAs) in addition to a partial final portion rich in A+T. The data obtained here contribute to the enrichment of our knowledge of the taxonomy and evolutionary biology of this prominent disease vector. These findings represent an important advancement in the understanding of the characteristics of the populations of northeastern Brazil and provide valuable insights into the taxonomy and evolutionary biology of this prominent disease vector.

Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome of Culex vishnui (Diptera: Culicidae), one of the major vectors of Japanese encephalitis virus

Culex mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) can transmit a variety of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), causing human and animal diseases. Cx. vishnui, Cx. pseudovishnui, and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus are three representative species in Culex vishnui subgroup, which are widely distributed in southeast Asia, and they have been proved as the main vectors transmitting Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) that could cause human infectious mosquito-borne disease across Asia. However, the epidemiology, biology, and even molecular information of those mosquitos remain poorly understood, and only the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus has been reported in these species. In the present study, we sequenced and annotated the complete mitogenome sequence of Cx. vishnui which was 15,587 bp in length, comprising 37 genes. Comparisons of nucleotide and amino acid sequences between Cx. vishnui and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus revealed that most genes within Culex vishnui subgroup were conserved, except atp8, nad1, atp6, and nad6, with differences of 0.4 (rrnS) - 15.1% (tRNAs) and 0 (nad4L) - 9.4% (atp8), respectively, interestingly suggesting the genes nad4L and rrnS were the most conserved but atp8 gene was the least. The results based on nucleotide diversity also supported a relatively uniform distribution of the intraspecific differences in Cx. vishnui and Cx. tritaeniorhynchus with only one highly pronounced peak of divergence centered at the control region. Phylogenetic analyses using concatenated amino acid sequences of 13 protein-coding genes supported the previous taxonomic classification of the family Culicidae and the monophyly of tribes Aedini, Culicini, Mansoniini, and Sabethini. The present study revealed detailed information on the subgroup Culex vishnui, reanalyzed the relationships within the family Culicidae, provided better markers to identify and distinguish Culex species, and offered more markers for studying the molecular epidemiology, population genetics, and molecular phylogenetics of Cx. vishnui.