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. 2025 Apr 29;15(1):15102.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-99340-x.

Genetic diversity and population structure of Aedes caspius in Iran

Azim Paksa #  1 , Alireza Sanei-Dehkordi #  2   3 , Saeed Shahabi  1 , Yaser Salim Abadi  4 , Saideh Yousefi  5   6
Affiliations

Genetic diversity and population structure of Aedes caspius in Iran

Azim Paksa et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The floodwater mosquito Aedes caspius is a competent vector of several human pathogens and has a global distribution across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. This study aimed to investigate the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of Ae. caspius from Iran. Aedes caspius mosquitoes were collected from Iran, and genetic diversity was assessed using the mitochondrial DNA-encoded cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtDNA-COI) gene. BLAST analysis confirmed the morphological identification of all specimens as Ae. caspius, with 100% similarity to GenBank sequences. Haplotype diversity (Hd) and haplotype diversity variance of the Ae. caspius mosquitoes based on the COI gene were found to be 0.954 and 0.00006, respectively. Nucleotide diversity (Pi) of the Ae. caspius sequences based on the COI gene was calculated to be 0.01495, with 56 segregation sites identified. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated high genetic diversity in Iranian Ae. caspius populations, suggesting its long-standing establishment in Iran and indicating its native status. The origin of this population in Iran may be linked to populations from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, China, and Europe. Further studies should explore the genetic variability of Ae. caspius in various countries and continents.

Keywords: Aedes caspius; Genetic diversity; Haplotype; mtDNA-COI gene.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval and consent to participate: This study was approved by the ethical committee of Sirjan School of Medical Sciences (IR.SIRUMS.REC.1402.016).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Geographical locations of collection sites. The map was created by the authors using ArcGIS software, version 10.8. (https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/latest/get-started/main/get-started-with-arcmap.htm).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Median-joining haplotype network obtained for 570 bp of 138 mitochondrial COI sequences of Aedes caspius from the present study and Gene Bank (NCBI), resulting in four haplogroups (Hg). Circle size is relative to haplotype frequency. Black circles represent extinct or unsampled haplotypes. Hatch marks on the line represent mutational steps between haplotypes. Haplotype colors represent geographic locations of haplotypes as indicated on the right corner of the figure.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Evolutionary relationships of Aedes caspius based on the COI gene sequences from the present study and GenBank (NCBI), inferred using the Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Neighbor-Joining (NJ) methods. Bootstrap values for ML (1000 replicates) before the slash and for NJ (10,000 replicates) after the slash are shown above or below the branches. The tree is drawn to scale, with branch lengths measured in the number of substitutions per site. Ae. vexans were used as the outgroup.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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