Publicação

Maternal origin of honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies from across Europe

Ver documento

Detalhes bibliográficos
Resumo:Worldwide commercial beekeeping poses a threat to the native origin of the honeybee (Apis mellifera), with beekeepers favouring subspecies of Eastern European C-lineage ancestry, due to their docile behaviour and high honey production traits. In many parts of western and northern Europe, queens of Western European M-lineage ancestry have been massively replaced by queens of C-lineage ancestry, and this has led to the development of conservation programs aiming at recovering native lines. The maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), particularly the intergenic region tRNAleu-cox2, has been the marker of choice for assessing honey bee variation at large geographical scales. Herein, we will show the results of the mtDNA analysis of over 850 colonies collected across 28 European countries. These samples were subjected to DNA extraction, followed by PCR, and Sanger sequencing. The analysis of the sequences was conducted in Mega 11. The results indicated that, apart from Portugal, Spain, and the conservation centres in France and Denmark, where the colonies exhibited African or M haplotypes, the remaining countries are dominated by colonies of C-lineage maternal ancestry. In conclusion, this unprecedented mtDNA analysis conducted across Europe underscores the worrying dominance of C-lineage genetic variation, highlighting the urgent need for strategic conservation efforts to preserve the native genetic diversity of Apis mellifera.
Autores principais:Lopes, Ana
Outros Autores:Costa, Maíra; Tounakti, Sahar; Henriques, Dora; Quaresma, Andreia; Yadró Garcia, Carlos A.; Albo, Alexandre; Blažytė-Čereškienė, Laima; Broodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Carreck, Norman L.; Charistos, Leonidas; Chlebo, Robert; Coffey, Mary F.; Danneels, Ellen; Dobrescu, Constantin; Filipi, Janja; Gajda, Anna; Galea, Thomas; Gratzer, Kristina; Hatjina, Fani; Johannesen, Jes; Körmendy-Rácz, János; Kovačić, Marin; Preben, Kristiansen; Martikkala, Maritta; Martín-Hernández, Raquel; Pietropaoli, Marco; Poirot, Benjamin; Radev, Zheko; Raudmets, Aivar; Douarre, Vincent; Rodriguez-Flores, Maria Shantal; Roessink, Ivo; Ivana, Maja; Škerl, Maja Ivana Smodiš; Titera, Dalibor; Van der Steen, Jozef; Varnava, Andri; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Webster, Matthew T.; Graaf, Dirk C. de; Pinto, M. Alice
Assunto:mtDNA Apis mellifera Europe Research Subject Categories::TECHNOLOGY::Chemical engineering::Food technology
Ano:2024
País:Portugal
Tipo de documento:documento de conferência
Tipo de acesso:acesso aberto
Instituição associada:Instituto Politécnico de Bragança
Idioma:inglês
Origem:Biblioteca Digital do IPB
Descrição
Resumo:Worldwide commercial beekeeping poses a threat to the native origin of the honeybee (Apis mellifera), with beekeepers favouring subspecies of Eastern European C-lineage ancestry, due to their docile behaviour and high honey production traits. In many parts of western and northern Europe, queens of Western European M-lineage ancestry have been massively replaced by queens of C-lineage ancestry, and this has led to the development of conservation programs aiming at recovering native lines. The maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), particularly the intergenic region tRNAleu-cox2, has been the marker of choice for assessing honey bee variation at large geographical scales. Herein, we will show the results of the mtDNA analysis of over 850 colonies collected across 28 European countries. These samples were subjected to DNA extraction, followed by PCR, and Sanger sequencing. The analysis of the sequences was conducted in Mega 11. The results indicated that, apart from Portugal, Spain, and the conservation centres in France and Denmark, where the colonies exhibited African or M haplotypes, the remaining countries are dominated by colonies of C-lineage maternal ancestry. In conclusion, this unprecedented mtDNA analysis conducted across Europe underscores the worrying dominance of C-lineage genetic variation, highlighting the urgent need for strategic conservation efforts to preserve the native genetic diversity of Apis mellifera.