Isolation of a Plasmodium vivax refractory Anopheles culicifacies strain from India.

Anopheles culicifaciessensu lato comprises five sibling species. We report the isolation of an An. culicifacies species B strain which is completely refractory to Plasmodium vivax sporogonic development and partially refractory to P. falciparum. Parasite development in this strain is arrested by a melanotic encapsulation mechanism in the mid-gut. We compare the infectivity of this refractory strain and four other species B strains from different epidemiological zones of India with P. vivax in the laboratory.