DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5x69p8d5j
title: Aedes aegypti in North America (Microsatellite and SNP array)

description: The Aedes aegypti mosquito first invaded the Americas about 500 years ago
 and today is a widely distributed invasive species and the primary vector
 for viruses causing dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever. Here we
 test the hypothesis that the North American colonization by Ae. aegypti
 occurred via a series of founder events. We present findings on genetic
 diversity, structure, and demographic history using data from 70 Ae.
 aegypti populations in North America genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci
 and/or ~20,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the largest genetic
 study of the region to date. We find evidence consistent with a
 colonization driven by serial founder effect (SFE), with Florida as the
 putative source for a series of westward invasions. This scenario was
 supported by 1) a decrease in the genetic diversity of Ae. aegypti
 populations moving west, 2) a correlation between pairwise genetic and
 geographic distances, and 3) demographic analysis based on allele
 frequencies. A few Ae. aegypti populations on the west coast do not follow
 the general trend, likely due to a recent and distinct invasion history.
 We argue that SFE provides a helpful albeit simplified model for the
 movement of Ae. aegypti across North America, with outlier populations
 warranting further investigation.
description: To investigate whether serial founder effect explains the
 westward spread of <em>Ae. aegypti</em> across southern North
 America, we analyzed 12 microsatellite loci and SNP array data from 70
 North American <em>Ae. aegypti</em> populations, the largest
 study of the region to date. The microsatellite dataset includes 2,132
 individuals from 63 populations genotyped at 12 loci (Slotman et al. 2007;
 Brown et al. 2011). The SNP dataset includes 359 individuals from 36
 populations genotyped at ~15,000 SNPs with the Axiom_aegypti array (Evans
 et al. 2015). Microsatellite and SNP genotypes for most populations in
 this study have been reported in Gloria-Soria et al. 2014, Evans et al.
 2015, Kotsakiozi et al. 2017, Pless et al. 2017, Saarman et al. 2017,
 Gloria-Soria et al. 2017, Pless et al. 2020, and Pless et al. 2021. New
 data presented here include microsatellite genotypes from 1) La
 Altagracia, Dominican Republic, 2) San Jose de Ocoa, Dominican Republic,
 3) St. Croix, USVI, and 4) St. Thomas, USVI and genome-wide SNP data for
 1) St. Thomas, USVI, 2) Alamagordo, NM, USA, 3) Las Cruces, NM, USA, 4)
 Lubbock, TX, USA, 5) Bexar, TX, USA.  The mean sample
 size is 33.8 for microsatellites and 10.4 for SNPs. The year range of
 sampling collections is 2006-2018 (with &gt;75% of the samples
 collected in 2014 or later). All mosquito samples were collected as adults
 or eggs from traps and were shipped as adults to Yale University for
 analysis. No more than six individuals were used from a single ovitrap to
 minimize sampling relatives. Additional information is available in the
 associated manuscript. 
description: The microsatellite data are in Genepop format, and "0"
 is the missing value. The SNP array data are in Plink
 format (bed/bim/fam).