- Authors: Anopheles gambiae 1000 Genomes Consortium
- Publication Year: 2017
- Journal: Nature
- Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24995%20
The sustainability of malaria control in Africa is threatened by the rise of insecticide resistance in Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit the disease1. To gain a deeper understanding of how mosquito populations are evolving, we sequenced the genomes of 765 specimens of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles coluzzii sampled from 15 locations across Africa, identifying over 50 million single nucleotide polymorphisms within the accessible genome. These data revealed complex population structure and patterns of gene flow, with evidence of ancient expansions, recent bottlenecks, and local variation in effective population size. Strong signals of recent selection were observed in insecticide resistance genes, with multiple sweeps spreading over large geographical distances and between species. The design of novel tools for mosquito control using gene drive will need to take account of high levels of genetic diversity in natural mosquito populations.