The genetic diversity of Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito based on the standard barcode region of cytochrome C oxidase I (COI) gene fragment was studied in the present study. The COI gene sequences of Cx. quinquefasciatus were also compared with four other species of Genus Culex (i.e. Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Cx. fuscocephala, Cx. pipiens, and Cx. theileri). Our data set included sequences of Culex mosquitoes from 16 different countries of world. The average intraspecific and interspecific divergences recorded were 0.67% and 8.27%, respectively. The clades for five species were clearly separated except Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. pipiens. It is concluded that the DNA barcoding is effective and reliable tool for the identification of selected Culex species but create little problem in case of sister species.
Keywords: Culex mosquitoes; DNA barcode; divergence.