Ricerc@Sapienza

Despite the great success of last decades¿ control of malaria, still >200 million cases and >400.000 deaths occurred in 2018, 90% of which in Africa. The most effective strategy towards malaria elimination today is represented by massive campaigns of distribution of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs), whose effectiveness is threatened by increasing physiological and behavioural resistance of vector populations. Understanding vector species boundaries and behavioural features, reproduction isolation, population structure and gene flow is crucial for both maximising the lifespan of available insecticides and for guiding the implementation and predicting effectiveness of novel genetic-based vector control tools envisaged to complement ITNs in the fight against malaria in Africa in the future.

The present project is based on the long-standing and internationally recognised expertise of the MedEnt group on the study of the speciation process ongoing within the two most efficient Afrotropical malaria vectors, Anopheles coluzzii and A. gambiae. In recently funded projects, we developed two novel, easy-to-implement tools for genotyping Ancestry Informative Markers in the two species, taking advantage of results from the Anopheles gambiae 1000 Genome project. We here propose to exploit these novel approaches to deepening current understanding of the eco-geographic determinants of A. coluzzii, A. gambiae and hybrid genotype distribution across Africa, and to characterize their behavioral traits, with particular reference to those more significant for malaria transmission and control. The funding of the project represents an instrumental opportunity for MedEnt research group to build on previous results, to continue contributing high quality results to the research field, as well as maintaining a direct link within a vibrant and highly competitive community of international scientists focused on providing new data and means for improved malaria control in Africa.