Anopheles merus (Mosquito, MAF) (AmerM2)

Anopheles merus (Mosquito, MAF) Assembly and Gene Annotation

The Anopheles merus data and its display on Ensembl Genomes are made possible through a joint effort by the Ensembl Genomes group and VectorBase, a component of VEuPathDB.

The assembly name may not match that from INSDC due to additional community contributions applied by VEuPathDB to the initial INSDC assembly (recorded by the assembly accession).

About Anopheles merus

Range

Anopheles merus belongs to the Anopheles gambiae species complex, which consists of at least seven species, and it is a locally important vector in eastern and southern Africa where it is mainly found along the coast.

Habitats

An. merus is found in high numbers in shallow brackish pools and marsh or swamp areas along the coast. As a consequence, this species does not exhibit density changes in response to tidal fluctuations nor does it appear to tolerate very high levels of salinity. It is rarely found in the mangrove forests on the east coast of Africa, however this may be due to the composition of the trees and soil type under of the stands of mangrove in this zone rather than inherent behavioural patterns. An. merus is known to occur inland, using salt pans and saline pools as larval habitats.

Resting and feeding preferences

An. merus is generally opportunistic in host selection, depending on host availability and females have a tendency to bite and rest outdoors. The biting times of An. merus on the Kenyan coast have been reported as gradually rising from early evening (18:00) peaking between midnight and 01:00 and then declining until 06:00, which reflects the accepted biting pattern for this species across its range.

Vectorial capacity

An. merus has previously been considered as only a minor or unimportant vector, however, it has been identified as playing an unexpectedly important role along the Tanzanian coast and more recently in Mozambique.

This text was modified from Sinka ME et al. (2010) The dominant Anopheles vectors of human malaria in Africa, Europe and the Middle East: occurrence data, distribution maps and bionomic précis Parasites & Vectors 3:117.

MAF strain

Originally isolated from South Africa (Mafayeni, Kruger National Park), isofemale selection was performed prior to genome sequencing. This strain is available from BEI resources.

Source: VectorBase

Picture credit: James Gathany, CDC Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Image source)

AmerM2 assembly

Asssembled and submitted by Broad Institute.

AmerM2.10 gene set

Community annotation patch build for July 2019

References

  1. The dominant Anopheles vectors of human malaria in Africa, Europe and the Middle East: occurrence data, distribution maps and bionomic prcis.
    Sinka ME, Bangs MJ, Manguin S, Coetzee M, Mbogo CM, Hemingway J, Patil AP, Temperley WH, Gething PW, Kabaria CW et al. 2010. Parasit Vectors. 3:117.

Picture credit: VectorBase.org

Statistics

Summary

AssemblyAmerM2, INSDC Assembly GCA_000473845.2, Apr 2014
Database version111.2
Golden Path Length288,048,996
Genebuild byVEuPathDB
Genebuild methodImport
Data sourceVectorBase

Gene counts

Coding genes13,150
Non coding genes428
Small non coding genes426
Long non coding genes2
Gene transcripts13,772

Other

Short Variants6,612,165