Dissertation
OLD WORLD HONEY BEE (Apis mellifera) POPULATIONS: A GENETIC RESOURCE FOR U.S. HONEY BEE BREEDING
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2016
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/110897
Abstract
Honey bee populations currently found in the U.S. are historical descendants of Old World populations of Apis mellifera subspecies, imported between the 1600s and 1922. U.S. honey bees have sustained several well documented genetic bottlenecks and are the result of over 90 years of domestic bee breeding without the significant incorporation of new genetic material. However, improvements in the cryopreservation of honey bee semen have led to the controlled and experimental use of imported germplasm in the instrumental insemination of commercial queens. To compare genetic diversity of Old and New World honey bees, multiple populations were sampled from geographical areas within their endemic range and from multiple U.S. commercial queen producers (QP) sampled across three decades (2015, 2004, 1994). Queen producers sampled in 2015 included those who incorporated Old World germplasm into their breeding program (QP+) and those who did not (QP-). Populations sampled in 2015 were compared to those used by Delaney et al. (2009).
Based on microsatellite analysis, Old World honey bee subspecies (A. m. ligustica, A. m. carnica, and A. m. caucasica) had similar levels of overall allelic richness compared to U.S. commercial strains and New World feral populations. However, Old World subspecies contained almost half (47%) of all unique alleles found. The remainder were distributed among U.S. commercial strains (15%) and New World feral populations (38%). Unfortunately, because feral populations have been largely reduced due to the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, U.S. commercial queen producer strains are a more realistic predictor of current genetic diversity within the U.S. Results also indicated that there were significant losses in overall allelic richness through time (QP 2015 vs QP 2004 and QP 1994; p<0.01 and p<0.05 respectively). However, these losses were mitigated by gains in alleles in queen producer populations incorporating Old World germplasm (QP+) into their breeding operations, compared to queen producers a decade prior. Current queen producers who did not incorporate Old World germplasm in their operations (QP-) had significantly fewer alleles compared to QP+ 2015. Taken together, these results indicate that the Old World represents a genetic reservoir for additional genetic diversity of U.S. honey bees.
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Details
- Title
- OLD WORLD HONEY BEE (Apis mellifera) POPULATIONS: A GENETIC RESOURCE FOR U.S. HONEY BEE BREEDING
- Creators
- Megan Alana Taylor
- Contributors
- Walter S. Sheppard (Advisor)David Crowder (Committee Member)Jeremiah Busch (Committee Member)Carol Anelli (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Entomology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 105
- Identifiers
- 99900581833101842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation