Mitochondrial DNA variations in Korean Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae) and development of another potential marker

Abstract

-The geographic relationships and biogeography of Apis cerana have been studied extensively, but Korean populations have not been investigated thoroughly. We sequenced the non-coding region between the tRNA Leu and COII mitochondrial (mt) genes (herein named NC2) of Korean samples, along with the samples from seven Asian localities (China, Vietnam, and Thailand). Four undiscovered haplotypes were found in Korea and China, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis confirmed that Korean A. cerana belonged to the Mainland Asian group. Dominance of Japan1 haplotype in Mainland Asia including Korea suggests extensive gene flow and a common genetic origin. A newly developed non-coding region between the tRNA Met and tRNA Gln mt genes (named NC1) provided nine haplotypes with twice the number of variable positions compared to those in NC2. A NC1-based phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of two phylogenetic groups in Apis cerana from Korea suggesting two different sources.genetic relationships / Asian cavity-nesting honey bee / Apis cerana / mitochondrial DNA / non-coding sequence

Phylogenetic Uniqueness of Honeybee Apis Cerana from the Korean Peninsula Inferred from The Mitochondrial, Nuclear, and Morphological Data

“…The complete mtDNA of Korean A. cerana have not been studied and published. The last comparative research of A. cerana populations from China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Japan based on the NC1 non-coding intergenic region of mtDNA found nine haplotypes of NC1 region, ten haplotypes of NC2 region and seventy-eight haplotypes of COX1 gene which could not be differentiated Korean A. cerana (Tanaka et al, 2001;Zhao et al, 2013;Lee et al, 2016). The complete mtDNA of Korean A. cerana is 15,925 bp and contains local DNA regions of high and low compositional complexity.…”

“…These populations possibly belong to separate A. cerana subspecies and have genetic differences from the mainland A. c. cerana population and the island A. c. japonica population. The previous studies on mtDNA loci have not provided information concerning phylogenetic differentiation of Korean A. cerana population (Tanaka et al, 2001;Zhao et al, 2013;Lee et al, 2016). We assumed that differences in Korean A. cerana populations could be found through comparative analysis of complete mtDNA.…”

Phylogenetic Relationships of Russian Far-East Apis cerana with Other North Asian Populations

“…The NC1 region of the Russian Far East A. cerana was found to be similar to the A. cerana ACNC101 haplotype and differed from the Korean A. c. koreana samples KP064870 and KP064972 by only one insertion 31insT, relatively to the NC1 sequence of Russian Far East A. cerana. Ten A. cerana haplotypes of the NC1 region (ACNC101 -ACNC110) were published earlier (Lee et al, 2016;Ilyasov et al, 2018a). This haplotype with 31insT insertion is new and is named ACNC111 (Fig.…”

“…As well, two ecotypes of subspecies could be in different parts of the countries, geographically and anthropogenically isolated from each other for a relatively long time. We suppose that different climatic zones in China are inhabited by different A. cerana subspecies (Tan et al, 2003;Tan, Warrit, & Smith, 2007;Lee et al, 2016). The mtDNA appears to evolve at a similar rate in a wide array of insects, about 2.3% per one million years (Myr).…”

“…ACNC105, ACNC106, ACNC107, ACNC108, ACNC109) subdivided into Group A and Group B (Lee et al, 2016). Ilyasov et al (2018a) found one more new haplotype ACNC110 in A. c. koreana.…”