Analysis of mitochondrial DNA in honey bees (Apis mellifera) from Serbia

Abstract

In this study mitochondrial DNA of the indigenous honey bee populations from Serbia was analysed. Three ecotypes were comprised in the investigation: Banat (B), Syenichko-Peshterski (S) and Timok (T). The results show that all investigated samples of honey bees from Serbia belong to one mtDNA haplotype of the C phylogenetic lineage, previously designated as C2D haplotype, though with three additional polymorphic sites. For the novel mtDNA haplotype, the designation C2E is proposed. The novel C2E haplotype differs from C2D in two A-T transversions and in one insertion. Moreover, within the T honey bee ecotype, two additional polymorphic sites were observed; a deletion of a T nucleotide and a T-C transition. Our results suggest that the Carniolan honey bee populations from Serbia may represent an indigenous gene pool within A. m. carnica. The mtDNA haplotype (C2D), previously found in A. m. macedonica, was found in all samples of Serbian A. m. carnica. This suggests that the C2D haplotype may be found within both subspecies. This study represents the first effort to characterize the indigenous honey bee populations in Serbia using molecular techniques with the objective of improving our understanding of the phylogeography of Apis mellifera.

U ovom radu su prikazani rezultati analize mitohondrijalne DNK autohtonih populacija medonosne pčele iz Srbije. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo tri ekotipa: Banatski (B), Sjeničko-Pešterski (S) i Timočki (T). Rezultati ukazuju da svi ispitivani uzorci medonosne pčele iz Srbije pripadaju jednom mtDNK haplotipu C filogenetske linije, ranije označenom kao C2D haplotip, mada sa tri polimorfna mesta više. Za novi mtDNK haplotip predložena je oznaka C2E. Novi C2E haplotip razlikuje se od C2D haplotipa u dve A-T transverzije i jednoj inserciji. Osim toga, u okviru T ekotipa medonosne pčele uočena su još dva polimorfna mesta, delecija nukleotida T i T-C tranzicija. Ovi rezultati ukazuju da populacije kranjske medonosne pčele iz Srbije mogu pretstavljati autohtoni genski pul u okviru podvrste A. m. carnica. Mitohondrijalni DNK haplotip C2D, koji je prethodno opisan kod A. m. macedonica, utvrđen je u svim uzorcima A. m. carnica iz Srbije. Ovakav nalaz sugerise da C2D haplotip može postojati kod obe podvrste. Ovaj rad predstavlja prvi pokušaj da se obavi karakterizacija autohtonih populacija medonosne pčele u Srbiji primenom molekularnih tehnika, a u cilju boljeg razumevanja filogeografije vrste Apis mellifera.