Phylogenetic signal at the Cytb-Ser tRNA-IG1-ND1 mitochondrial region in Anopheles (Kerteszia) neivai Howard, Dyar & Knab 1913

Introduction: Mitochondrial DNA has proven its utility for the study of insect evolution. There are genes such as Cytochrome b (Cytb) as well as the transfer gene for Serine (Ser tRNA), which can be used to diagnose closely related organisms. Objective: The phylogenetic utility of Cytb-Ser tRNA-IG1-ND1 were tested, for polymorphism and secondary structure modelling in Ser tRNA, to detect possible cryptic species in Anopheles. neivai. Materials and methods: Specimens from Colombia, Guatemala, and the type locality in Panama were collected and sequenced for specimen comparison based on DNA polymorphism, and secondary structurem modelling for Ser tRNA gene. Results: 36 sequences for A. neivai (34) and A. pholidotus (2) were obtained. Conclusions: Polymorphic variants were detected in A. neivai for Cytb-Ser tRNA-IG1-ND1, despite of this variation, cryptic species in A. neivai could not be detected.