Abstract
The mosquito Aedesaegyptiis the main vector of dengue virus. Although, the epidemiology of dengue fever has been widely
described; however, the genetics of the vector mosquito remained poorly understood in Pakistan. Hence, this study was
performed to estimate the genetic variability in Ae. aegyptipopulations from different areas of the Punjab, Ae. aegypti
mosquitoes were collected by using standard techniques (dippers) from Faisalabad, Nankana Sahib and Lahore districts. The
collected populations were reared separately in the laboratory and then DNA was extracted from single individual. Ten
decamer random primers (GL Decamer A-01 to A-10) were selected for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The PCR
products were analyzed using 1.5% Agarose gel electrophoresis. The amplification profile data showed monomorphism and
polymorphism between different districts as well as between samples of even same district. The primer A-04 showed a clear
polymorphic banding pattern in different samples from Nankana Sahib, Faisalabad and Lahore. Maximum number of bands
were produced by A-010 primer (75%) followed by A-02 (67%). The allele and genotype frequencies were measured at each
locus. The Nm value showed a migration between Nankana Sahib and Faisalabad (4.65). While, Ae. aegyptiwere freely
moving within district. However, the populations were also slightly genetically different (heterozygosity; Ht: 029). The
dendrogram based on genetic similarities revealed three clusters which showed that Ae. aegyptipopulations from three
districts were slightly different from each other. The genetic similarity ranged from maximum 3.16 to minimum 1.00. Based
on the inter- and intra-populations polymorphic data from all three districts, it was concluded that Ae. aegypti populations
were slightly genetically different in selected areas.
