Select Publications
(for a complete PubMed list, click here)
*Publications with Press Coverage or Commentary
Cheng C, Tan JC, Hahn MW, Besansky NJ (2018) A systems genetic analysis of inversion polymorphisms in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, in press.
Lukindu M, Bergey CM, Wiltshire RM, Small ST, Bourke B, Kayondo JK, Besansky NJ (2018) Spatio-temporal genetic structure of Anopheles gambiae in the Northwestern Lake Victoria Basin, Uganda: implications for genetic control trials in malaria endemic regions. Parasites & Vectors 11: 246.
Miles A, Harding NJ, Botta G, Clarkson C, Antao T, Kozak K, Schrider D, Kern A, Redmond S, Sharakhov IV, Pearson R, Bergey C, Fontaine MC, Troco A, Diabate A, Costantini C, Rohatgi K, Elissa N, Coulibaly B, Dinis J, Midega J, Mbogo C, Mawejje H, Stalker J, Rockett K, Drury E, Mead D, Jeffreys A, Hubbart C, Rowlands K, Isaacs A, Jyothi D, Malangone C, Vauterin P, Jeffrey B, Wright I, Hart L, Kluczynski K, Cornelius V, MacInnis B, Henrichs C, Giacomantonio R, Ayala D, Bejon P, Besansky NJ, Burt A, Caputo B, della Torre A, Godfray C, Hahn MW, Neafsey DE, O'Loughlin S, Pinto J, Riehle M, Vernick K, Weetman D, Wilding C, White BJ, Lawniczak M, Donnelly M, Kwiatkowski D (2017) Natural diversity of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. Nature 552: 96-100.
Pombi M, Kengne P, Gimonneau G, Tene-Fossog B, Ayala D, Kamdem C, Santolamazza F, Guelbeogo WM, Sagnon N'F, Petrarca V, Fontenille D, Besansky NJ, Antonio-Nkondjio C, Dabiré RK, della Torre A, Simard F, Costantini C. (2017) Dissecting functional components of reproductive isolation among closely related sympatric species of the Anopheles gambiae complex. (2017) Evol App 10: 1102-1120.
Love RR, Steele AM, Coulibaly MB, Traore SF, Emrich SJ, Fontaine MC, Besansky NJ. (2016) Chromosomal inversions and ecotypic differentiation in Anopheles gambiae: the perspective from whole-genome sequencing. Mol Ecol 25: 5889-5906.
Hall, A.B., Papathanos, P.A., Sharma, A., Cheng, C., Akbari, O.S., Assour, L., Bergman, N.H., Cagnetti, A., Crisanti, A., Dottorini, T., Fiorentini, E., Galizi, R., Hnath, J., Jiang, X., Koren, S., Nolan, T., Radune, D., Sharakhova, M.V., Steele, A., Timoshevskiy, V.A., Windbichler, N., Zhang, S., Hahn, M.W., Phillippy, A.M., Emrich, S.J., Sharakhov, I.V., Tu, Z., Besansky, N.J. (2016) Radical remodeling of the Y chromosome in a recent radiation of malaria mosquitoes. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 13: E2114-23.
Love, R.R., Weisenfeld, N.I., Jaffe, D.B., Besansky, N.J., Neafsey, D.E. (2016) Evaluation of DISCOVAR de novo using a mosquito sample for cost-effective short-read genome assembly. BMC Genomics 17: 187.
Uyhelji, H.A., Cheng, C., Besansky, N.J. (2016) Transcriptomic differences between euryhaline and stenohaline malaria vector sibling species in response to salinity stress. Mol Ecol 25: 2210-25.
Mallet, J., Besansky, N., Hahn, M. (2016) How reticulated are species? Bioessays 38: 140-149.
Rosenzweig, B.K., Pease, J.B., Besansky, N.J., Hahn, M.W. (2016) Powerful methods for detecting introgressed regions from population genomic data. Mol Ecol 25: 2387-97.
Smith, H.A., White, B.J., Kundert, P., Cheng, C., Romero-Severson, J., Andolfatto, P., Besansky, N.J. (2015) Genome-wide QTL mapping of saltwater tolerance in sibling species of Anopheles (malaria vector) mosquitoes. Heredity 115: 471-479.
Besansky, N.J. (2014) How mosquito vectors beat the heat. Nature, Published online 26 November 2014 [doi:10.1038/nature14073].
*Fontaine, M.C., Pease, J.B., Steele, A., Waterhouse, R.W., Neafsey, D.E., Sharakhov, I.V., Jiang, X., Hall, A.B., Catteruccia, F., Kakani, E., Mitchell, S.N., Wu, Y-C., Smith, H.A., Love, R.R., Lawniczak, M.K., Slotman, M.A., Emrich, S.J., Hahn, M.W., Besansky, N.J. (2014) Extensive introgression in a malaria vector species complex revealed by phylogenomics. Science, Published online 27 November 2014 [DOI:10.1126/science.1258524]. Cover of Science; Perspective in Science; The Economist (Cover); Trends in Parasitology; Deutschlandfunk; Science Daily; The Scientist; Medical News Daily; Phys.org; WN.com; Newslocker.com; Asiaeu.com.
*Neafsey DE, Waterhouse RM, Abai MR, et al. [120 authors; Besansky, N.J. senior corresponding autmedicahor] (2014) Highly evolvable malaria vectors: the genomes of 16 Anopheles mosquitoes. Science, Published online 27 November 2014 [DOI:10.1126/science.1258522]. Cover of Science; Perspective in Science; The Economist (Cover); Trends in Parasitology; Deutschlandfunk; Science Daily; The Scientist; Medical News Daily; Phys.org; WN.com; Newslocker.com; Asiaeu.com.
Reidenbach, K.R., Cheng, C., Liu, F., Liu, C., Besansky, N.J., Zainulabeuddin S. (2014) Cuticular differences associated with aridity acclimation in African malaria vectors carrying alternative arrangements of inversion 2La. Parasites & Vectors 7: 176.
Cassone, B.J., Kamdem, C., Cheng, C., Tan, J.C., Hahn, M.W., Costantini, C., Besansky, N.J. (2014) Gene expression divergence between malaria vector sibling species Anopheles gambiae and An. coluzzii from rural and urban Yaoundé Cameroon. Mol Ecol 23: 2242-59.
Guelbeogo, W.M., Sagnon, N'F., Liu, F., Besansky, N.J., Costantini, C. (2014) Behavioral divergence of sympatric Anopheles funestus populations in Burkina Faso. Malar J 13: 65.
Powell, J.R., Besansky, N.J., Della Torre, A., Petrarca, V. (2014) Mario Coluzzi (1938-2012). Malar J 13: 10.
Harbach, R.E., Besansky, N.J. (2014) Mosquitoes. Current Biol 24: R14-5.
Neafsey, D. E., Christophides, G. K., Collins, F. H., Emrich, S. J., Fontaine, M. C., Gelbart, W., Hahn, M. W., Howell, P. I., Kafatos, F. C., Lawson, D., Muskavitch, M. A. T., Waterhouse, R. M., Williams, L. J., Besansky, N. J. (2013) The evolution of the Anopheles 16 Genomes Project. G3 3: 1191-1194.
*White, B.J., Kundert, P.N., Turissini, D.A., Van Ekeris, L., Linser, P.J., Besansky, N.J. (2013) Dose and developmental responses of Anopheles merus
larvae to salinity. J Exp Biol 216: 3433-3441. Inside JEB
Fossog, B.T., Antonio-Nkondjio, C., Kengne, P., Njiokou, F., Besansky, N.J., Costantini, C. (2013) Physiological correlates of ecological divergence along an urbanization gradient: differential tolerance to ammonia among molecular forms of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. BMC Ecol 13: 1.
Reidenbach, K.R., Neafsey, D.E., Costantini, C., Sagnon, N., Simard, F., Ragland, G.J., Egan, S.P., Feder, J.L., Muskavitch, M.A.T., Besansky, N.J. (2012). Patterns of genomic differentiation between ecologically differentiated M and S forms of Anopheles gambiae in West and Central Africa. Genome Biol Evol 4: 1202-1212.
Kamdem, C., Fossog, B. T., Simard, F., Etouna, J., Ndo, C., Kengne, P., Boussès, P., Etoa, F.-X., Awono-Ambene, P., Fontenille, D., Antonio-Nkondjio, C., Besansky, N.J., Costantini, C. (2012) Anthropogenic habitat disturbance and ecological divergence between incipient species of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. PLoS ONE 7: e39453.
*Cheng, C., White, B.J., Kamdem, C., Mockaitis, K., Costantini, C., Hahn, M.W., Besansky, N.J. (2012) Ecological genomics of Anopheles gambiae along a latitudinal cline in Cameroon: a population resequencing approach. Genetics 190:1417-1432. Cover; Faculty of 1000; Commentary in Genetics
Hahn, M.W., White, B.J., Muir, C.J., Besansky, N.J. (2012) No evidence for
biased co-transmission of speciation islands in Anopheles gambiae. Phil Trans R Soc B 367:374-384.
White, B.J., Collins, F.H., Besansky, N.J. (2011) Evolution of Anopheles
gambiae in relation to humans and malaria. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 42: 111-132.
*White, B.J, Lawniczak, M. K., Cheng, C., Coulibaly, M.B., Wilson, M.D., Sagnon, N.’F., Costantini, C., Simard, F., Christophides, G.K., Besansky, N.J. (2011) Adaptive divergence between incipient species of Anopheles gambiae increases resistance to Plasmodium. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108:244-9. Faculty of 1000; Science Daily
*Lawniczak, M.K.N., Emrich, S., Holloway, A. K., Regier, A.P., Olson, M., White, B., Redmond, S., Fulton, L., Appelbaum, E., Godfrey, J., Farmer, C., Chinwalla, A., Yang, S-P., Minx, P., Nelson, J., Kyung, K., Walenz, B.P., Garcia-Hernandez, E., Aquiar, M., Viswanathan, L.D., Rogers, Y-H., Strausberg, R.L., Saski, C.A., Lawson, D., Collins, F.H., Kafatos, F.C., Christophides, G.K., Clifton, S.W., Kirkness, E.F., Besansky, N.J. (2010) Widespread islands of divergence in Anopheles gambiae revealed by whole genome sequences. Science 330: 512-514. This Week in Science; NBC News; Science Daily; Scientific American; The Independent; USA Today; Science News Feature.
*Neafsey, D.E., Lawniczak, M.K.N., Park, D.J., Redmond, S.N., Coulibaly, M.B., Traoré, S.F., Sagnon, N., Costantini, C., Wiegand, R.C., Collins, F.H., Lander, E.S., Wirth, D.F., Kafatos, F.C., Besansky, N.J., Christophides, G.K., Muskavitch, M.A.T. (2010) Complex gene flow boundaries among sympatric Anopheles vector mosquito populations revealed by genome-wide SNP genotyping. Science 330: 514-517. This Week in Science; NBC News; Science Daily; Scientific American; The Independent; USA Today
Gimonneau, G., Bouyer, J., Morand, S., Besansky, N.J., Diabate, A., Simard, F. (2010) A behavioral mechanism underlying ecological divergence between cryptic species of the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. Behav Ecol 21: 1087-1092.
*White, B.J., Cheng, C., Simard, F., Costantini, C., Besansky, N.J. (2010) Genetic association of physically unlinked islands of genomic divergence in incipient species of Anopheles gambiae. Mol Ecol 19: 925-939. Perspective in Molecular Ecology
Reidenbach, K.R., Cook, S., Bertone, M.A., Harbach, R.E., Wiegmann, B.W., Besansky, N.J. (2009) Phylogenetic analysis and temporal diversification of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) based on nuclear genes and morphology. BMC Evol Biol 9: 298.
Gray, E.M., Rocca, K.A.C., Costantini,C., Besansky, N.J. (2009) Inversion
2La is associated with enhanced desiccation resistance in Anopheles gambiae. Malaria J 8: 215.
White, B.J., Cheng, C., Sangaré, D., Lobo, N.F., Collins, F.H., Besansky, N.J. (2009) The population genomics of trans-specific inversion polymorphisms in Anopheles gambiae. Genetics 183: 275-288.
Rocca, K.A.C., Gray, E.M., Costantini, C., Besansky, N.J. (2009) 2La chromosomal inversion enhances thermal tolerance of Anopheles gambiae larvae. Malaria J 8: 147.
Costantini, C., Ayala, D., Guelbeogo, W.M., Pombi, M., Some, C.Y., Bassole, I.H.N., Ose, K., Fotsing, J-M., Sagnon, N.F., Fontenille, D., Besansky, N.J., Simard, F. (2009) Living at the edge: biogeographic patterns of habitat segregation conform to speciation by niche expansion in Anopheles gambiae. BMC Ecol 9: 16.
Simard, F., Ayala, D., Kamdem, G. C., Etouna, J., Ose, K., Fotsing, J-M, Fontenille, D., Besansky, N. J., Costantini, C. (2009) Ecological niche partitioning between the M and S molecular forms of Anopheles gambiae in Cameroon: the ecological side of speciation. BMC Ecol 9: 17.
Pombi, M., Caputo, B., Simard, F., Di Deco, M. A., Coluzzi, M., Della Torre, A., Costantini, C., Besansky, N. J., Petrarca, V. (2008) Chromosomal plasticity and evolutionary potential in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto: insights from three decades of rare paracentric inversions. BMC Evol Biol 8: 309.
Cassone, B. J., Mouline, K., Hahn, M. W., White, B. J, Pombi, M., Simard, F., Costantini, C., Besansky, N. J. (2008) Differential gene expression in incipient species of Anopheles gambiae. Mol Ecol 17: 2491-2504.
Manoukis, N., Powell, J. R., Touré, M. B., Sacko, A., Edillo, F. E., Coulibaly, M. B., Traoré, S. F., Taylor, C. E., Besansky, N. J. (2008) A test of the chromosomal theory of ecotypic speciation in Anopheles gambiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105: 2940-2945.
*White, B.J., Hahn, M.W., Pombi, M., Cassone, B.J., Lobo, N.F., Simard, F., Besansky, N.J. (2007) Localization of candidate regions maintaining a common polymorphic inversion (2La) in Anopheles gambiae. PLoS Genetics 3(12): e217. Research Highlights, Nature Genetics
Coulibaly, M.B., Lobo, N.F., Fitzpatrick, M., Kern, M., Grushko, O., Thaner, D.V., Traoré, S.F., Collins, F.H., Besansky, N.J. (2007) Segmental duplication implicated in the genesis of inversion 2Rj of Anopheles gambiae. PLoS ONE 2(9): e849.
White, B.J., Santolamazza, F., Kamau, L., Pombi, M., Grushko, O., Mouline, K., Brengues, C., Guelbeogo, W., Coulibaly, M., Kayondo, J.K., Sharakhov, I., Simard, F., Petrarca, V., Della Torre, A., Besansky, N.J. (2007) Molecular karyotyping of the 2La inversion in Anopheles gambiae. Am J Trop Med Hyg 76: 334-339.
Michel, A.P., Grushko, O., Guelbeogo, W.M., Lobo, N.F., Sagnon, N’F., Costantini, C., Besansky, N.J. (2006) Divergence with gene flow in Anopheles funestus from the Sudan Savanna of Burkina Faso, West Africa. Genetics 173: 1389-1395.
*Sharakhov, I.V., White, B., Sharakhova, M., Kayondo, J.K., Lobo, N.F., Santolomazza, F., Della Torre, A., Simard, F., Collins, F.H., Besansky, N.J. (2006) Breakpoint structure reveals the unique origin of an interspecific chromosomal inversion (2La) in the Anopheles gambiae complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci 103: 6258-6262. Faculty of 1000
Krzywinski, J, Grushko, O.G., Besansky, N.J. (2006) Analysis of the complete mitochondrial DNA from Anopheles funestus: an improved dipteran mitochondrial genome annotation and a temporal dimension of mosquito evolution. Mol Phylogenet Evol 39:417-423.
Krzywinski, J., Chrystal, M., Besansky, N.J. (2006) Gene finding on the Y:
fruitful strategy in Drosophila does not deliver in Anopheles. Genetica 126: 369-375.
Stump, A.D., Fitzpatrick, M., Lobo, N.F., Traoré, S., Sagnon, N.’F., Costantini, C., Collins, F.H., Besansky, N.J. (2005) Centromere-proximal differentiation and speciation in Anopheles gambiae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102: 15930-15935.
Michel, A.P., Ingrasci, M.J., Schemerhorn, B.J., Grushko, O.G., Le Goff, G., Coetzee, M., Elissa, N., Fontenille, D., Vulule, J., Lehmann, T., Sagnon, N.’F., Costantini, C., Besansky, N.J. (2005) Range-wide population genetic structure of the African malaria vector Anopheles funestus. Mol Ecol 14:4235-48.
Michel, A. P., Guelbeogo, W. M., Grushko, O., Schemerhorn, B. J., Kern, M., Willard, M. B., Sagnon, N’F., Costantini, C., Besansky, N. J. (2005) Molecular differentiation between chromosomally defined incipient species of Anopheles funestus. Insect Mol Biol 14: 375-387.
Stump, A. D., Schoener, J. A., Costantini, C., Sagnon, N.’F., Besansky, N.J. (2005) Sex-linked differentiation between incipient species of Anopheles gambiae. Genetics 169: 1509-1519.
Guelbeogo, W. M., Grushko, O., Boccolini, D., Ouédraogo, P.A., Besansky, N. J., Sagnon, N.’F., Costantini, C. (2005) Chromosomal evidence of incipient speciation in the Afrotropical malaria mosquito Anopheles funestus in Burkina Faso. Med Vet Entomol 19: 458-469.
Stump, A. D., Atieli, F. K., Vulule, J. M., Besansky, N. J. (2004) Dynamics of
the pyrethroid knock-down resistance allele in western Kenyan populations of Anopheles gambiae in response to insecticide-treated bed net trials. Am J Trop Med Hyg 70: 591-596. Voice of America
Krzywinski, J., Nusskern, D., Kern, M., Besansky, N.J. (2004) Isolation and
characterization of Y chromosome sequences from the African malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae. Genetics 166: 1291-1302.
Besansky, N.J., Krzywinski, J., Lehmann, T., Simard, F., Kern, M., Mukabayire, O., Fontenille, D., Touré, Y., Sagnon, N’F. (2003) Semipermeable species boundaries between Anopheles gambiae and An. arabiensis: evidence from multilocus DNA sequence variation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100: 10818-10823.
Krzywinski, J., Besansky, N.J. (2003) Molecular systematics of Anopheles: from subgenera to subpopulations. Annu Rev Entomol 48: 111-139.
Sharakhov, I.V., Serazin, A.C., Grushko, O.G., Dana, A., Lobo, N., Hillenmeyer, M.E., Romero-Severson, J., Costantini, C., Sagnon, N.’F., Collins, F.H., Besansky, N.J. (2002) Inversions and gene order shuffling in Anopheles gambiae and A. funestus. Science 298: 182-185.
Della Torre, A., Costantini, C., Besansky, N.J., Caccone, A., Petrarca, V., Powell, J.R., Coluzzi, M. (2002) Molecular and ecological aspects of incipient speciation within Anopheles gambiae: the glass is half full. Science 298: 115-117.
Krzywinski, J., Wilkerson, R., Besansky, N.J. (2001) Toward understanding Anophelinae (Diptera: Culicidae) phylogeny: insights from nuclear single copy genes and the weight of evidence. Systematic Biol 50: 540-556.
Besansky, N.J., Lehmann, T., Fahey, G., Fontenille, D., Braack, L., Collins, F.H. (1997) Patterns of mitochondrial variation within and between African malaria vectors, Anopheles gambiae and An. arabiensis, suggest extensive gene flow. Genetics 147:1817-1828.
Besansky, N.J., Fahey, G.T. (1997) Utility of the white gene in estimating
phylogenetic relationships among mosquitoes. Mol Biol Evol 14:442-454.
Besansky, N.J., Bedell, J.A., Benedict, M.Q., Mukabayire, O., Hilfiker, D., Collins, F.H. (1995) Cloning and characterization of the white gene of Anopheles gambiae. Insect Mol Biol 4:217-232.
Besansky, N.J., Powell, J.R., Caccone, G., Mills-Hamm, D., Scott, J.A., Collins, F.H. (1994) Molecular phylogeny of the Anopheles gambiae complex suggests genetic introgression between principal malaria vectors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 91: 6885-6888.
Besansky, N.J. (1990). Evolution of the T1 retroposon family in the Anopheles
gambiae complex. Mol Biol Evol 7:229-246.