The genomic basis of adaptation to high‐altitude habitats in the eastern honey bee (Apis cerana)

Abstract

The eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) is of central importance for agriculture in Asia. It has adapted to a wide variety of environmental conditions across its native range in southern and eastern Asia, which includes high‐altitude regions. eastern honey bees inhabiting mountains differ morphologically from neighbouring lowland populations and may also exhibit differences in physiology and behaviour. We compared the genomes of 60 eastern honey bees collected from high and low altitudes in Yunnan and Gansu provinces, China, to infer their evolutionary history and to identify candidate genes that may underlie adaptation to high altitude. Using a combination of FST‐based statistics, long‐range haplotype tests and population branch statistics, we identified several regions of the genome that appear to have been under positive selection. These candidate regions were strongly enriched for coding sequences and had high haplotype homozygosity and increased divergence specifically in highland bee populations, suggesting they have been subjected to recent selection in high‐altitude habitats. Candidate loci in these genomic regions included genes related to reproduction and feeding behaviour in honey bees. Functional investigation of these candidate loci is necessary to fully understand the mechanisms of adaptation to high‐altitude habitats in the eastern honey bee.

Local adaptation across a complex bioclimatic landscape in two montane bumble bee species

“…However, insulin signalling is involved in other processes such as the sleep cycle, longevity, and sexual maturation, any of which may respond to aspects of seasonality that correlate with Isothermality (Cong et al, ; Post et al, ) . Although limited in number, other studies of montane adaptation in bees have suggested that the strongest signatures of selection may be in genes associated with olfaction, foraging, and reproduction (Montero‐Mendieta et al, ; Wallberg et al, ). Honey bees from Kenyan elevation gradients show an adaptive sweep in a high‐elevation inversion that contains several genes, but most notably several octopamine receptors (Wallberg et al, ).…”

Anthropogenic and natural barriers affect genetic connectivity in an Alpine butterfly

“…Unsaturated fatty acids in the membrane can increase membrane fluidity, causing higher cold tolerance (Brown et al, 2019;Haubert et al, 2008;Ohtsu et al, 1998). Furthermore, in two studies on honey bees and bumble bees (Jackson et al, 2020;Montero-Mendieta et al, 2019), other potassium channels were detected as potential outlier loci in relation to altitude. Four out of the remaining six loci with known function encode housekeeping proteins (Table 4).…”

Genomic analysis of Asian honeybee populations in China reveals evolutionary relationships and adaptation to abiotic stress

“…The selection pressure on other genes such as the leucokinin and NMDA receptors was hypothesized to mediate foraging in adaptation to highland habitats (Montero-Mendieta et al, 2019).…”

“…Population genomics of A.cerana also facilitate the acquisition of data for the identification of genes involved in the adaptative evolution of A. cerana . A study comparing 60 eastern honeybee samples from differing altitudes in Yunan Province identified 37 genes under positive selection at higher altitudes (Montero‐Mendieta et al., 2019). Among these genes, the selection pressure on the esterase FE4‐like gene in highland A. cerana is thought to play a role in the regulation of metabolic activity at lower temperatures.…”

“…This might contribute to earlier mating, shorter copulation, and the production of more offspring (Gilbert & Richmond, 1982). The selection pressure on other genes such as the leucokinin and NMDA receptors was hypothesized to mediate foraging in adaptation to highland habitats (Montero‐Mendieta et al., 2019). Another recent study analyzed the diversity of populations from northern and central China using the 2b‐RAD simplified genome sequencing method.…”