Apidologie 22 (1991) 87-92
DOI: 10.1051/apido:19910111

Phylogenetic relationships in the genus Apis inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence data

L. Garnery^a, D. Vautrin^b, J.M. Cornuet^a and M. Solignac<sup>b

a</sup>  INRA-CNRS (URA 1190), Laboratoire de Neurobiologie, Comparée des Invertébrés, 91440, Bures-sur-Yvette, France
^b  CNRS, Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique Evolutives, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Abstract - The nucleotide sequence of the 5'end of the mitochondrial cytochrome-oxydase subunit II gene was obtained through direct sequencing of PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) product from 4 Apis species (mellifera, cerana, dorsata and florea) and Bombus lucorum (Apidae) and Xylocopa violacea (Anthophoridae) as outgroups. Phylogenetic trees were built using Neighbor-Joining and parsimony methods. Three branches, dorsata, florea and cerana-mellifera diverged almost simultaneously and cerana separated from mellifera later but not as early as generally thought.

Key words: Apis / Phylogeny / molecular systematics / mitochondrial DNA / nucleotide sequence / cytochrome-oxydase