Co‐occurrence of East and West African kdr mutations suggests high levels of resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in Anopheles gambiae from Libreville, Gabon

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Abstract
Abstract.  Point mutations in the voltage‐gated sodium channel gene involved in knockdown resistance to DDT and pyrethroid insecticides have been described in several insect species. In the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae Giles sensu stricto (Diptera: Culicidae) two mutations have been identified. The first, consisting of a leucine–phenylalanine substitution at amino acid position 1014, is widespread in West Africa. The second, a leucine–serine substitution at the same position, has to date only been detected in western Kenya. Analysis of the kdr polymorphism in a sample of 106 An. gambiae s.s. of the rDNA S‐form/Type I collected in Libreville (Gabon) surprisingly revealed the presence of both East and West African kdr mutations with frequencies of 63% and 37%, respectively. No wild‐type alleles were detected and there was an excess of heterozygous genotypes (P = 0.04). In addition, an inconsistency was found during the kdr genotyping procedures by polymerase chain reaction, which could have lead to an underestimation of resistance alleles. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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