Alelle number and heterozigosity for microsatellite loci in different stingless bee species (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini)

Abstract

Neotropical Entomology 35(5): 638-643 (2006) PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Plebeia remota, Partamona mulata, Partamona helleri, taxa de heterozigose, polimorfismoABSTRACT -In the present study we compare genetic characteristics (allele diversity and observed heterozygosity) of microsatellite loci, from three stingless bee species (Plebeia remota Holmberg, Partamona mulata Moure In Camargo and Partamona helleri Friese), amplified by using heterospecific primers originally designed for Melipona bicolor Lepeletier and Scaptotrigona postica Latreille. We analyzed 360 individuals of P. remota from 72 nests, 58 individuals of P. mulata from 58 nests, and 47 individuals of P. helleri from 47 nests. The three species studied showed low level of polymorphism for the loci amplified with primers derived from M. bicolor. However, for the loci amplified with primers derived from S. postica, only P. remota presented low level of polymorphism.

Genetic Variability of Stingless Bees Melipona mondury Smith and Melipona quadrifasciata Lepeletier (Hymenoptera: Apidae) from a Meliponary

“…Low genetic variability in native stingless bees is also documented in studies using molecular markers such as RAPD (Tavares et al, 2001), mitochondrial polymorphism (Brito et al, 2013), ISSR (Inter Single Sequence Repeats) (Nascimento et al, 2010;Miranda et al, 2012), and microsatellites (Francisco et al, 2006;Tavares et al, 2007;Carvalho-Zilse et al, 2009;Francini et al, 2009;Alves et al, 2011;Duarte et al, 2011).…”

Genetic variability in Melipona scutellaris from Recôncavo, Bahia, Brazil

“…In Melipona, the establishment of new nests is dependent on the mother colony, which results in reduced migration distances within similar environments (Kerr, 1987). Moreover, some studies have shown that the utilization of heterologous primers, although being useful to assess the genetic structure in other species, might lead to lower polymorphism levels than species-specific microsatellite primers (Francisco et al, 2006).…”

Genetic diversity of two stingless bees, Trigona nigerrima (Cresson 1878) and Trigona corvina (Cockerell 1913), in coffee dominated landscapes in southern Mexico

“…In fact, a genetic approach would reveal critical information, not attainable by conventional ecological methods, about the viability status of populations, not mentioning genetic diversity. For example, several studies have evaluated the effect of beekeeping upon both genetic variability ) and maintenance of populations (Alves et al 2010), while others have evaluated genetic variability and population structure of stingless bees (Costa et al 2005, Francisco et al 2006, Garcia Tavares et al 2007, Hurtado-Burillo et al 2013. Additionally, population genetics is a powerful tool to estimate colony density for the study of population dynamics (Cameron et al 2004, Moritz et al 2007, Kraus et al 2008, a better alternative to find and count colonies in the field (Zayed 2009).…”