Frequencies of restriction fragment-length polymorphisms indicate that neotropical honey bee (Hymenoptera : Apidae) populations have African and westEuropean origins
Hg. Hall et Ma. Mcmichael, Frequencies of restriction fragment-length polymorphisms indicate that neotropical honey bee (Hymenoptera : Apidae) populations have African and westEuropean origins, ANN ENT S A, 94(5), 2001, pp. 670-676
Frequencies are reported for restriction fragment-length polymorphisms (RFL
Ps) at a highly polymorphic nuclear locus in Old and New World honey bee po
pulations. The distribution of these (RFLPs) alleles (composed of MTI and D
deI variants) had been found previously to be discontinuous among groups of
Old World honey bee subspecies, which included A. mellifera mellifera L. (
west European), A. m. ligustica Spinola, A. m. caucasica Gorbachev (east Eu
ropean), and A. m. scutellata Lepeletier (African). In this study, ancestry
in New World bees was inferred from allele identities and frequencies at t
his locus in combination with mitochondrial DNA types. In bees from the Uni
ted States. collected before the invasion of African bees, east and west Eu
ropean alleles were found at frequencies of 83 and 17%, respectively, which
is consistent with previously identified nuclear and mitochondrial DNA mar
kers. Colonies from two neotropical countries, Mexico and Honduras, had Afr
ican mitochondrial DNA and high frequencies of African nuclear DNA alleles.
Consistent with previous findings, east European alleles were absent or de
tected at low frequencies in these colonies. However, west European alleles
were found at frequencies from 26 to 31%. These results suggest that queen
offspring of the African queens first introduced into Brazil mated with we
st European drones, incorporating neutral markers that have since remained
in the expanding population of feral African bees. The results point to lit
tle paternal introgression from managed east European colonies encountered
by the African bees spreading through the neotropics.