biology Article 2La Paracentric Chromosomal Inversion and Overexpressed Metabolic Genes Enhance Thermotolerance and Pyrethroid Resistance in the Major Malaria Vector Anopheles gambiae Sulaiman S. Ibrahim 1,2,* , Muhammad M. Mukhtar 2 , Abdullahi Muhammad 1 and Charles S. Wondji 1 1 Vector Biology Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK;
[email protected] (A.M.);
[email protected] (C.S.W.) 2 Department of Biochemistry, Bayero University, PMB 3011, Kano 700241, Nigeria;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +44-74-4044-3871 Simple Summary: While shifts in temperature may promote the spread of insects, exacerbating the intensity of vector-borne diseases like malaria, very high temperatures exert deleterious effects in insect vectors, forcing them to evolve/adapt genetically. These genetic adaptations may facilitate insecticide resistance through common genes involved in both processes. Here, the impact of thermal tolerance on pyrethroid resistance in the major malaria vector Anopheles gambiae s.l. from four locali- ties spanning the savanna and sub-Sahel of northern Nigeria was investigated. In all four localities, An. coluzzii and An. gambiae s.s. were the only malaria vectors found. The populations were highly thermotolerant, with ~50% of mosquitoes in two sites surviving 44 ◦C. Thermotolerant larvae and Citation: Ibrahim, S.S.; Mukhtar, adult mosquitoes (survivors of 44 ◦C) were significantly more resistant to permethrin, suggesting M.M.; Muhammad, A.; Wondji, C.S. that prior heat-hardening facilitates insecticide resistance. Thermal tolerance and permethrin resis- 2La Paracentric Chromosomal tance were found to be associated with the 2La rearrangement (a form of chromosomal inversion).