Speciation within the Anopheles gambiae complex: high-throughput whole genome sequencing reveals evidence of a putative new cryptic taxon in ‘far-west’ Africa

Speciation within the Anopheles gambiae complex: high-throughput whole genome sequencing reveals evidence of a putative new cryptic taxon in ‘far-west’ Africa | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Speciation within the Anopheles gambiae complex: high-throughput whole genome sequencing reveals evidence of a putative new cryptic taxon in ‘far-west’ Africa Alessandra della Torre, Beniamino Caputo, Carlo Maria De Marco, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3914444/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Sep, 2024 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The two main Afrotropical malaria vectors - Anopheles coluzzii and An. gambiae – are genetically distinct and reproductively isolated across West Africa. However, populations at the western extreme of their range are assigned as “intermediate” between the two species by whole genome sequence (WGS) data, and as hybrid forms by conventional molecular diagnostics. By exploiting WGS data from 1,190 specimens collected across west Africa via the Anopheles gambiae 1000 Genomes network, we identify a novel putative taxon in the far-west (provisionally named Bissau molecular form), which did not arise by admixture but rather originated at the same time as the split between An. coluzzii and An. gambiae. Intriguingly, these populations lack insecticide resistance mechanisms commonly observed in the two main species. These findings lead to a change of perspective on malaria vector species in the far-west region with potential for epidemiological implications, and a new challenge for genetic-based mosquito control approaches. Biological sciences/Evolution/Speciation Health sciences/Diseases/Infectious diseases/Malaria Anopheles malaria vectors reproductive barriers admixture gene-flow Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Caputoetal.SupplMat.Submitted240131.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 10 Sep, 2024 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3914444","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":271776476,"identity":"3cfa9f3f-b277-4888-a569-7649cb0f16c8","order_by":0,"name":"Alessandra della 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