Mitochondrial DNA Diversity of Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) from Unmanaged Colonies and Swarms in the United States

Abstract

To study the genetic diversity of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) from unmanaged colonies in the United States, we sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial DNA COI-COII region. From the 530 to 1,230 bp amplicon, we observed 23 haplotypes from 247 samples collected from 12 states, representing three of the four A. mellifera lineages known to have been imported into the United States (C, M, and O). Six of the 13 C lineage haplotypes were not found in previous queen breeder studies in the United States. The O lineage accounted for 9% of unmanaged colonies which have not yet been reported in queen breeder studies. The M lineage accounted for a larger portion of unmanaged samples (7%) than queen breeder samples (3%). Based on our mitochondrial DNA data, the genetic diversity of unmanaged honey bees in the United States differs significantly from that of queen breeder populations (p < 0.00001). The detection of genetically distinct maternal lineages of unmanaged honey bees suggests that these haplotypes may have existed outside the managed honey bee population for a long period.

Mitochondrial DNA genetic diversity of honey bees, Apis mellifera, in Hawaii

“…The C1 haplotype was found from 52 % (123 of 235, Table II) of the samples. Magnus et al (2011) found the C1 haplotype to be the most common haplotype in the continental United States, while Delaney et al (2009) found haplotype C1 to be the most common in Southern United States, and the second most common in Western United States. Four of the C lineage haplotypes (C1, C2, C11, and C19) have been observed in samples from queen breeders in the continental United States (Delaney et al 2009;Magnus et al 2011).…”

“…This lineage has became preferred by most beekeepers and is bred by nearly all commercial beekeepers in the continental United States (Sheppard 1988(Sheppard , 1989aSchiff and Sheppard 1996). Although there are five mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages worldwide, managed honey bees in the USA are dominated by the C lineage (Delaney et al 2009;Magnus et al 2011). with the M lineage and O lineages comprising 7 and 9 % of unmanaged honey bees (excluding A lineage) in the United States (Magnus et al 2014).…”

“…Although there are five mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages worldwide, managed honey bees in the USA are dominated by the C lineage (Delaney et al 2009;Magnus et al 2011). with the M lineage and O lineages comprising 7 and 9 % of unmanaged honey bees (excluding A lineage) in the United States (Magnus et al 2014). It has been documented that honey bees of both the M and C lineages were introduced to Hawaii prior to the 1908 importation ban of honey bee colonies (Nieman 1942;Keck 1937).…”

“…This classification method has been used for honey bees around the world, including in the continental United States (Delaney et al 2009;Magnus and Szalanski 2010;Szalanski and Magnus 2010;Magnus et al 2011Magnus et al , 2014 and Australia (Chapman et al 2008). Unlike nuclear genotypes which can be altered during segregation or recombination during reproduction, mtDNA markers are maternally inherited intact, thus allowing mtDNA analysis to focus on the genealogies of individual lineages (Lansman et al 1981).…”

Mitochondrial DNA Characterization of High Royal Jellyproducing Honeybees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in China

“…Methods based on the analysis of COI-COII sequences in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been widely used in the determination of honeybee lineages (Magnus, Tripodi, & Szalanski, 2011;Meixner et al, 2013;Coroian et al, 2014). Six evolutionary lineages (A, C, M, O, Y, and Z) have been found in A. mellifera according to morphometric or molecular studies (Ruttner, 1988;Franck et al, 2001;Alburaki et al, 2013).…”