Molecular Identification of Culex pipiens Linnaeus, (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Yaba, Dlpak; Al-Muffti, Shamal Abdullah

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2024.286160.2046

Molecular Identification of Culex pipiens Linnaeus, (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture Engineering Sciences, Salahaddin University- Erbil, Iraq.

² Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Duhok, Iraq

10.21608/ejvs.2024.286160.2046

Abstract

The present study aims to establish a phylogenetic tree among the sequenced mosquitoes and classify the Culex species discovered in the Kurdistan region of Iraq according to molecular biological evolution. They are using partial sequencing of the mitochondrion genome for the CO1 gene. This study investigates the evolutionary relationships and sequence comparisons of Culex species originating from different geographic regions. Compare these data points with analogous information from neighboring nations available via the NCBI. The research was carried out from September 15, 2020, to November 20, 2021. A total of 291 adult female Culex were collected randomly from the four provinces. After conducting morphological analysis to identify the Culex mosquitoes, the complete genomic DNA of each mosquito was extracted. In the next step, specific species primers were used to increase the size of the DNA of the COI gene in the mitochondria. The outcomes of DNA sequencing have been submitted to GenBank to compare and contrast with analogous data from neighboring countries that are accessible via the NCBI. In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, six species belonging to the genus Culex and one species from the genus Ochlerotus have been uploaded for the first time to GenBank. GenBank has given the following accession numbers for six species of the genus Culex and one species of the genus Ochlerotus: OQ028836 for Culex pipiens; OQ026450.1 for Culex pipiens; OP998245.1 for Culex pipiens pipiens; OP998245.1 for Culex pipiens pipiens; OR757439 for Culex perixugus; OR757439 for Culex territans; and OR740595 for Ochlerotus caspius.

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