Abstract:
Background: Anopheles barbirostris is a vector of malaria in Sri Lanka. The taxon exists as a species complex in the
Southeast Asian region. Previous studies using molecular markers suggest that there are more than 4 distinct clades
within the An. barbirostris complex in Southeast Asia. The present study characterizes Sri Lankan An. barbirostris
using mtDNA cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and ribosomal RNA internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) gene
sequences.
Findings: DNA was extracted from morphologically identified An. barbirostris specimens from Sri Lanka, the COI
and ITS2 regions amplified and their sequences analysed by comparison with other GenBank entries. Maximum
likelihood trees suggested that Sri Lankan An. barbirostris constitute a different molecular type most closely related
to clade I.
Conclusions: Considering the uncorrected p distances between the clade I and Sri Lankan specimens it is fair to
assume that the specimens collected from widely separated locations in Sri Lanka with morphology characteristic
of An. barbirostris s.l. form a new molecular type with close resemblance to An. barbirostris s.s from Indonesia and
Thailand.
