Free Access
| Issue |
Apidologie
Volume 31, Number 2, March-April 2000
Taxonomy and Evolutionary biology of the Honeybees
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| Page(s) | 265 - 279 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:2000121 | |
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), CBLU, University of Leeds
* revised and updated by: Marcus Hennecke, Ross Moore, Herb Swan
* with significant contributions from:
Jens Lippmann, Marek Rouchal, Martin Wilck and others -->
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2000121
Apidologie 31 (2000) 265-279
Biogeography of Apis cerana F. and A. nigrocincta Smith: insights from mtDNA studies
Deborah R. Smitha - Lynn Villafuerteb - Gard Otisc - Michael R. Palmera
aDepartment of Entomology, Haworth Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
bInstitute of Biological Sciences, Genetics and Molecular Biology Division, University of the
Philippines, Los Banos, Philippines
cDepartment of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
Abstract:
This study adds new data from Korea and the Philippines to earlier mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)-based studies
of the phylogeography of Asian cavity-nesting honeybees. A non-coding region that lies between the leucine
tRNA gene and the cytochrome oxidase II gene of the mitochondrial genome was sequenced in bees from 153
colonies of Apis cerana and A. nigrocincta, revealing 41 different haplotypes. Five sequences
could not be aligned with the others, two (from India and Sri Lanka) because the sequences were
exceedingly A+T rich, and three (from Taiwan, the Philippines, and A. nigrocincta) because most of
the non-coding sequence was absent. The remaining 36 sequences were aligned, and used in a phylogenetic
analysis of A. cerana and A. nigrocincta populations. Both neighbor-joining and parsimony
analyses were carried out, yielding similar results. We found five major groups of haplotypes: an Asian
mainland group, a Sundaland group, a Palawan group, a Luzon-Mindanao group, and A. nigrocincta. The
geographic distribution of these mtDNA haplotypes appears to be strongly influenced by changes in
sea-level during Pleistocene glaciations.
Keywords:
Apis cerana / A. nigrocincta / mtDNA / biogeography / phylogeny
Correspondence and reprints: Deborah R. Smith
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