Malaaria levitava Anopheles Maculipennis grupi (Diptera: Culicidae) liigiline mitmekesisus Eestis

Iga aastaselt haigestub maailmas malaariasse ligikaudu 219 miljonit inimest. Seda haigust põhjustavaid algloomi levitavad ehk siirutavad hallasääsed (Anopheles (An.)). Nende mitmekesisus ei ole suur ainult maailmas vaid ka Eestis. Malaaria patogeene levitavad ka Anopheles maculipennis kompleksi kuuluvad krüptilised liigid. Käesoleva töö eesmärgiks on välja uurida, milline on selle grupi mitmekesisus Eestis. Selleks kasutati Eestist püütud hallasääski ning DNA eraldamist. Peale DNA eraldamist isendist tuli puhastada sekveneeringud ja neist saadud tulemused said kirja pandud. Tulemused näitasid, et Eestis on An. maculipennis kompleksi liikidest kõige levinum An. messae. See liik on ka üleüldiselt Euroopas levinuim malaaria siirutaja. Kui teha suuremaid uuringud kuhu kaasata rohkem püügikohti ja ka teised Eestis elavad hallasääsed, kes malaariat levitavad. Täiendavate uuringutega saab ka teada, kui kaugele on võimeline see liik üldse edasi levima.

Every year, 219 million people fall ill with malaria. Although malaria is currently mostly confined to the tropics and subtropics, it was also found in Estonia less than a century ago. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium protozoa, that are distributed by anopheline (Anopheles) mosquitoes, which is a large genus of mosquitoes made up of many species, some of which can even be found in Estonia. Among others, malaria protozoa can also be distributed by cryptic species belonging to the Anopheles (An.) maculipennis complex. These species are called cryptic, because it is impossible to tell them apart based on morphological characteristics alone. Estonia is known to be a home for at least two such species: An. maculipennis and An. messae. Of these two, An. messae is a wellknown malaria pathogen distributer. The aim of this work was to find out how many of the Estonian An. maculipennis complex mosquitoes are from the An. messae species. Therefore, as many Estonian caught An. maculipennis complex insects as possible were identified by molecular methods. Thus, these insects went through DNA extraction, the samples were then replicated and the effectiveness of the replication was examined by gel electrophoresis. Positive samples were sequenced by the Institute of Genomics Core Facility of the University of Tartu. Sequences were then organised and compared to online databases. Results showed, that An. messae was by far the most numerous species of its complex in Estonia. It is also the most common malaria vector in Europe. For continuing research, it would be better to involve more mosquito catch sites and other possible Estonian malaria carries.