SHORT REPORT: VARIATION IN MITOCHONDRIAL 12S AND 16S RIBOSOMAL DNA SEQUENCES IN NATURAL POPULATIONS OF TRIATOMA INFESTANS (HEMIPTERA: REDUVIIDAE)

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA sequences of the 12S and 16S ribosomal RNA genes were analyzed in five natural populations of the Chagas' disease vector Triatoma infestans from Argentina. DNA sequence comparisons of 878 basepairs (12S plus 16S) revealed 13 haplotypes. A total of 10 private haplotypes were found in four of the populations analyzed, suggesting low current levels of genetic exchange. The levels of genetic differentiation between the population of Chancaní (Córdoba) and other two of the populations analyzed indicated significant deviation from a pattern of unrestricted gene flow. The haplotypic diversity and the private haplotypes found in the geographically closest localities of Chancaní and El Jardín (La Rioja) suggest that the reduction in the population size by insecticide treatment did not avoid the recovery of the populations apparently from survivors of the same area.