Thorough morphological and genetic evidence confirm the existence of the endemic honey bee of the Maltese Islands<i>Apis mellifera ruttneri</i>: recommendations for conservation

Zammit-Mangion, Marion; Meixner, Marina D.; Mifsud, David; Sammut, Sheryl; Camilleri, Liberato

doi:10.1080/00218839.2017.1371522

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 41 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results show for the first time that almost 2% of honey bees in East-Central Europe have mitochondrial DNA of African origin. As far as we know, this type of introgression has only previously been reported in Europe in the southern-western Iberian Peninsula [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], Sicily [ 37 , 61 ], the Balearic Islands [ 39 ], Malta [ 38 ] and France [ 36 , 62 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Elsewhere, bees with mitochondrial haplotypes typical of the A-lineage spread through Southern Europe as a result of natural migration events. Outside of Africa, bees with A-lineage haplotypes have also been reported in the Iberian Peninsula [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ], the adjacent area of Gascony in South-West France [ 36 ], Mediterranean islands (Sicily [ 37 ], Malta [ 38 ], Baleares [ 39 ]) and Macaronesia [ 40 , 41 ]. We are not aware of any reports of the presence of African mitotypes elsewhere in Europe or in the Middle East.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Mitochondrial DNA Suggests the Introduction of Honeybees of African Ancestry to East-Central Europe

Oleksa

Kusza

Tofilski

2021

Insects

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Europe, protecting the genetic diversity of Apis mellifera is usually perceived in the context of limiting the spread of the evolutionary C-lineage within the original range of the M-lineage. However, due to climate change and large-scale ongoing movement of breeding individuals, the expansion of bees from the African A-lineage could represent another threat. This issue has not yet been investigated in detail, although A-mitotypes occur in South-West and South Europe due to natural gene flow. Here, we determine the diversity of mtDNA in honey bees from East-Central Europe. We sequenced the COI-COII region in 427 bees sampled along two 900 km transects (17.5° N and 23° E). We found that 1.64% of bees (95% CI: 0.66–3.35 %) had A-mitotypes. It is unlikely that their presence in the area resulted from natural migration but instead human driven introductions of hybrids of African ancestry. This expansion deserves more attention, as it may contribute to the dissemination of undesirable traits, parasites and diseases.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitochondrial DNA Suggests the Introduction of Honeybees of African Ancestry to East-Central Europe

Oleksa

Kusza

Tofilski

2021

Insects

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Honeybees are not an exception and large-scale apiaries of dozens of beehives have replaced the few hives in the yard of farmers and wild colonies (4). Moreover, hives are often moved for long distances for agriculture pollination needs (5; 6) or shipped worldwide for transnational commercialization (7, 8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honeybees exposure to veterinary drugs: how the gut microbiota is affected

Baffoni

Alberoni

Gaggìa

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Several studies have outlined that a balanced gut microbiota offers metabolic and protective functions supporting honeybee health and performances. The present work contributes to increasing knowledge on the impact on the honeybee gut microbiota of the administration of three different veterinary drugs (oxytetracicline, sulphonamides and tylosin). The trial was designed with a semi-field approach in micro-hives containing about 500 bees, i.e. in experimental conditions as close as possible to real hives considering the restrictions on the use of antibiotics; 6 replicates were considered for each treatment plus the control. The absolute abundance of the major gut microbial taxa in newly eclosed individuals was studied with qPCR and next generation sequencing. Antimicrobial resistance genes for the target antibiotics were also monitored using a qPCR approach. The results showed that none of the veterinary drugs altered the total amount of gut bacteria, but qualitative variations were observed. Tylosin treatment determined a significant decrease of α- and β-diversity indexes and a strong depletion of the rectum population (lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) while favoring the hindgut population (Gilliamella, Snodgrassella and Frischella spp.). Major changes were also observed in honeybees treated with sulphonamides, with a decrease in Bartonella and Frischella core taxa an increase of Bombilactobacillus spp. and Snodgrassella spp. Conversely, minor effects were observed in oxytetracycline treated honeybees. Monitoring of antibiotic resistance genes confirmed that honeybees represent a great reservoir of tetracycline resistance genes. Tetracycline and sulphonamides resistant genes tended to increase in the gut microbiota population upon antibiotic administration.

show abstract

“…Selection has not only shaped the morphology of the different subspecies but also behavioral traits such as low aggressiveness and annual colony development cycles such as early spring development in the economically popular A.m. carnica (Adam, 1983;Ruttner, 1988;De La Rúa et al, 2009;Meixner et al, 2010;Uzunov et al, 2015a,b;Zammit-Mangion et al, 2017). However, huge behavioral differences have not only been observed between different subspecies of honeybees, but also among members of the same colony.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the appetitive learning performance of six European honeybee subspecies in a common apiary

Scheiner

Lim

Meixner

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Western honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) is one of the most widespread insects with numerous subspecies in its native range. In how far adaptation to local habitats has affected the cognitive skills of the different subspecies is an intriguing question which we investigate in this study. Naturally mated queens of the following five subspecies from different parts of Europe were transferred to Southern Germany: A. m. iberiensis from Portugal, A. m. mellifera from Belgium, A. m. macedonica from Greece, A.m. ligustica from Italy and A. m. ruttneri from Malta. We also included the local subspecies A.m. carnica in our study. New colonies were built up in a common apiary where the respective queens were introduced. Worker offspring from the different subspecies was compared in classical olfactory learning performance using the proboscis extension response. Prior to conditioning we measured individual sucrose responsiveness to investigate whether possible differences in learning performances were due to a differential responsiveness to the sugar water reward. Most subspecies did not differ in their appetitive learning performance. However, foragers of the Iberian honeybee, A. m. iberiensis, performed significantly more poorly, despite having a similar sucrose responsiveness. We discuss possible causes for the low cognitive performance of the Iberian honeybees, which may have been shaped by adaptation to local habitat.

show abstract

Thorough morphological and genetic evidence confirm the existence of the endemic honey bee of the Maltese IslandsApis mellifera ruttneri: recommendations for conservation

Cited by 15 publications

References 41 publications

Mitochondrial DNA Suggests the Introduction of Honeybees of African Ancestry to East-Central Europe

Mitochondrial DNA Suggests the Introduction of Honeybees of African Ancestry to East-Central Europe

Honeybees exposure to veterinary drugs: how the gut microbiota is affected

Comparing the appetitive learning performance of six European honeybee subspecies in a common apiary

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About