Assessing the population genetic structure and demographic history of Anopheles gambiae and An. arabiensis at island and mainland sites in Uganda: Implications for testing novel malaria vector control approaches

Despite substantial investments in malaria control, the disease remains a major burden in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Uganda. Novel tools such as gene drive systems are being developed to suppress malaria vector populations, but their deployment requires detailed knowledge of mosquito population genetics.

We assessed the genetic structure, diversity, and demographic history of Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles arabiensis from six sites in Uganda: three islands in Lake Victoria and three mainland sites. A total of 2918 Anopheles gambiae and 173 Anopheles arabiensis were genotyped using targeted amplicon sequencing of 62 loci across coding and non-coding regions of the genome.

Population structure analyses revealed clear separation between the two species but little differentiation within each species across sites. Pairwise F ST values among An. gambiae populations were low (0.00054–0.028) but often significant, with mainland populations showing higher connectivity and island populations exhibiting greater isolation. Anopheles arabiensis mainland populations showed no statistically significant differentiation, suggesting panmixia. Principal Component Analysis and Bayesian clustering similarly distinguished species-level structure but no obvious substructure within sites.

Mainland An. gambiae populations displayed higher nucleotide diversity than island populations, while An. arabiensis showed the lowest diversity overall. Tajima’s D values were negative across sites, consistent with recent population expansions. Effective population size estimates indicated small populations at the islands (146 to 249) compared to large mainland populations (4,054 to 8,190).

These findings demonstrate strong genetic differentiation between Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles arabiensis , and subtle but meaningful structure between island and mainland Anopheles gambiae populations. The reduced diversity and small effective population sizes at island sites suggest stronger genetic drift and limited gene flow, in contrast to the highly connected mainland populations.

For malaria control, this contrast has direct implications. High connectivity among mainland populations may facilitate the spread of insecticide resistance alleles, while island populations, with their relative isolation and smaller sizes, may serve as suitable sites for contained field trials of gene drive strategies. This study highlights how geographic and ecological factors shape mosquito population structure and provides critical evidence for the design and monitoring of genetic-based vector control interventions.