Pennetier, Cédric, Warren, Ben, Dabiré, K. Roch, Russell, Ian J. and Gibson, Gabriella (2009) "Singing on the wing" as a mechanism for species recognition in the malarial mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Current Biology, 20 (2). pp. 131-136. ISSN 0960-9822 (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2009.11.040)

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Abstract

Anopheles gambiae, responsible for the majority of malaria deaths annually, is a complex of seven species and several chromosomal/molecular forms. The complexity of malaria epidemiology and control is due in part to An. gambiae's remarkable genetic plasticity, enabling its adaptation to a range of human-influenced habitats. This leads to rapid ecological speciation when reproductive isolation mechanisms develop [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Although reproductive isolation is essential for speciation, little is known about how it occurs in sympatric populations of incipient species [2]. We show that in such a population of “M” and “S” molecular forms, a novel mechanism of sexual recognition (male-female flight-tone matching [7,8,9]) also confers the capability of mate recognition, an essential precursor to assortative mating; frequency matching occurs more consistently in same-form pairs than in mixed-form pairs (p = 0.001). Furthermore, the key to frequency matching is “difference tones” produced in the nonlinear vibrations of the antenna by the combined flight tones of a pair of mosquitoes and detected by the Johnston's organ. By altering their wing-beat frequencies to minimize these difference tones, mosquitoes can match flight-tone harmonic frequencies above their auditory range. This is the first description of close-range mating interactions in incipient An. gambiae species.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	[1] Published online: December 31, 2009. [2] Published in print: January 26, 2010. [3] Published as: Current Biology, (2010), Vol. 20, (2) pp. 131–136. [4] Erratum in Current Biology, Volume 20, Issue 3, 278, 9 February 2010, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2010.01.037: In the Summary of this article, the authors inadvertently stated that the statistical significance of their data analysis was p > 0.001; this should have read p = 0.001, consistent with the meaning of the rest of the sentence and as stated elsewhere in the article. Hence, the fifth sentence of the Summary should read “We show that in such a population of ‘M’ and ‘S’ molecular forms, a novel mechanism of sexual recognition (male-female flight-tone matching [7–9]) also confers the capability of mate recognition, an essential precursor to assortative mating; frequency matching occurs more consistently in same-form pairs than in mixed-form pairs (p = 0.001).” The online version of the article has been corrected. The authors regret any confusion caused by this error.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Anopheles gambiae, malarial mosquito, malaria, death, species recognition
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Agriculture, Health & Environment Department
Related URLs:	Publisher Organisation Organisation
Last Modified:	11 Sep 2014 12:21
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/4075

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