Free Access
Issue
Apidologie
Volume 39, Number 4, July-August 2008
Page(s) 475 - 480
DOI https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:2008024
Published online 25 June 2008
Apidologie 39 (2008) 475-480
DOI: 10.1051/apido:2008024

An oligonucleotide primer set for PCR amplification of the complete honey bee mitochondrial genome

Maria Cristina Arias1, Daniela Silvestre1, Flávio de Oliveira Francisco1, Ricardo Weinlich1 and Walter Steven Sheppard2

1  Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências,Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 05508-090, Brazil
2  Department of Entomology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-6382, USA

Received 4 December 2007 - Revised 5 March 2008 - Accepted 25 March 2008 - Published online 25 June 2008

Abstract - Mitochondrial DNA markers have been widely used to address population and evolutionary questions in the honey bee Apis mellifera. Most of the polymorphic markers are restricted to few mitochondrial regions. Here we describe a set of 24 oligonucleotides that allow PCR amplification of the entire mitochondrial genome of the honey bee A. mellifera in 12 amplicons. These fragments have important applications for the study of mitochondrial genes in different subspecies of A. mellifera and as heterospecific probes to characterize mitochondrial genomes in other bee species.


Key words: mitochondrial DNA / primer set / PCR / honey bee


© INRA, DIB-AGIB, EDP Sciences 2008