author(s)
Devinder Singh, Navpreet Kaur Gill and Navneet Kaur Rai

abstract
Sequence analysis of the mitochondrial COII gene has been used for molecular taxonomy in many insects and to reveal phylogenetic relationship among them. A ~500 to 550bp sequence of mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase II (COII) gene has been analyzed to construct molecular database and to establish the phylogenetic relation among the five Culicinae mosquito species (Aedes vittatus, Aedes aegypti, Culex bitaeniorhynchus, Culex vishnui and Culex quinquefasciatus) from the state of Punjab and adjoining areas (India). The sequences were found to be A+T rich and in substitution the rate of transitions was higher than the rate of transversions. Individuals of the same species grouped closely together in a Neighbor-Joining tree regardless of collection site. Conspecifics showed <2% divergence (range = 0% to 1.7%), whereas interspecific divergence was >2% with K2P (range = 4.1% to 15.0%).