Adaptive introgression in African malaria mosquitoes

Gregory LANZARO 
Center for Vectorborne Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis USA gclanzaro@ucdavis.edu 

(Seminar in English)

Greg Lanzaro serves as the Director of the Vector Genetics Laboratory (VGL) which is dedicated to research and training in the areas of population & molecular genetics, genomics and bioinformatics of insect vectors of human and animal disease. He has developed a program aimed at expanding knowledge that may be applied to improving control of disease vectors and that addresses problems of interest in the field of evolutionary genetics. The VGL is currently engaged in research on a number of projects including the evolution of island populations, the genetics of invasive species, adaption to novel environments and mosquito mating behavior. The program currently involves work at field sites throughout Africa, in California and soon in India. We are currently engaged in a large University of California consortium that includes seven of the ten UC campuses (Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Barbara and San Diego) and is focused on the application of gene drive technologies for the introduction of transgenes into mosquito vector populations as a means of disrupting pathogen transmission. Visit the VGL website at: https://vectorgeneticslab.ucdavis.edu/

Recent publications:

Lee, Y., Marsden, C.D., Norris, L.C., Collier, T.C., Main, B., Fofana, A. Cornel, A.J. and Lanzaro, G.C. Spatio-temporal dynamics of gene flow and hybrid fitness between the M and S forms of the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 110:19854-9, 2013.

Norris L.C., Main B.J., Lee Y., Collier T.C., Fofana A., Cornel A.J. and Lanzaro G.C. Adaptive introgression in an African malaria mosquito coincident with the increased usage of insecticide-treated bed nets. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 112:815-820, 2015.

Main BJ, Lee Y, Collier TC, Norris LC, Brisco K, Fofana A, Cornel AJ and Lanzaro GC. Complex genome evolution in A. coluzzii associated with increased insecticide usage in Mali. Mol. Ecol. 24: 5145-5157, 2015.