Anopheles cinereus implicated as a vector of malaria transmission in the highlands of north-west Ethiopia.

Background: Transmission of malaria in the highlands of Ethiopia is poorly understood and usually attributed to importation by mobile populations or local transmission by Anopheles arabiensis. To characterize and identify Anopheles species present in a highland area of northern Ethiopia, adult and larval collections were performed in Gondar town and the neighboring Senbet Debir village (Dembia district, > 2000 meters above sea level, masl), in addition to Bahir Dar town (capital of Amhara region) and Kumer Aftit village (Metema district, < 2000 masl).

Methods: CDC-light traps were used to collect adult mosquitoes and larval collections were performed from rain pools for rearing into adults for species identification.

Fast and robust single PCR for Plasmodium sporozoite detection in mosquitoes using the cytochrome oxidase I gene.

Background: Molecular tools for detecting malaria-infected mosquitoes with improved practicality, sensitivity and specificity, and high-throughput are required. A common PCR technique used to detect mosquitoes infected with Plasmodium spp. is a nested PCR assay based on the 18s-rRNA gene.

Human malaria diagnosis using a single-step direct-PCR based on the Plasmodium cytochrome oxidase III gene.

Background: Nested PCRs based on the Plasmodium 18s-rRNA gene have been extensively used for human malaria diagnosis. However, they are not practical when large quantities of samples need to be processed, further there have been challenges in the performance and when interpreting results, especially when submicroscopic infections are analysed. Here the use of "direct PCR" was investigated with the aim of improving diagnosis in the malaria elimination era.

Evidence for inversion polymorphism related to sympatric host race formation in the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella.

Evidence suggests that the apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella (Diptera: Tephritidae) is undergoing sympatric speciation (i.e., divergence without geographic isolation) in the process of shifting and adapting to a new host plant.