Identification of Culex mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) by the restriction assay of amplification products
Shaĭkevich, E.V.
Meditsinskaia Parazitologiia i Parazitarnye Bolezni 3: 28-32
2009
ISSN/ISBN: 0025-8326 PMID: 19827513 Document Number: 630031
Mosquitoes of the Culex genus are active bloodsuckers and vectors of many dangerous human and animal diseases. Special interest has been shown in the Culex pipiens complex in recent years. The complex comprises closely related mosquito species. The specific feature of the complex is that there are significant ecophysiological differences between morphologically similar species and subspecies. Taxonomy of the complex by classical morphological methods is hardly feasible and therefore molecular-genetic markers are being actively searched for to identify the members of the Culex pipiens complex. The proposed polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay based on the analysis of the nucleotide composition of the 5'-end of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I gene permits differences in the nucleotide sequences of this region to be found and serves as a rapid way of differentiating Cx. pipiens (f. pipiens and f. molestus), Cx. quinquefasciatus, Cx. torrentium, as well as Cx. modestus.