[Phylogenetic relationships of honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apinae) inferred from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences]

Yi Chuan. 2012 Aug;34(8):1057-63. doi: 10.3724/sp.j.1005.2012.01057.
[Article in Chinese]

Abstract

The sequences of mitochondrial ND2, CO2, and 16S rRNA genes and nuclear ITPR gene were obtained from 22 samples of 5 Apis species from China. The characteristics of the sequences and the pairwise distances among species were analyzed. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed for Apis species using maximum parsimony, neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood methods together with the sequences of the other 4 Apis species downloaded from GenBank. Results supported that Apis species were divided into three major clusters: dwarf bees (A. florea and A. andreniformis), giant bees (A. dorsata and A. laboriosa), and cavity-nesting bees (A. mellifera, A. cerana, A. koschevnikovi, A. nigrocinta, and A. nuluensis). The dwarf honey bees were confirmed as basal lineage. Our study also revealed a high level of genetic divergence between A. dorsata from Hainan Island and China mainland.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence*
  • Bees / genetics*
  • DNA, Mitochondrial / genetics*
  • Genes, Insect*
  • Insect Proteins / genetics*
  • Mitochondria / genetics*
  • Mitochondrial Proteins / genetics*
  • Phylogeny
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • DNA, Mitochondrial
  • Insect Proteins
  • Mitochondrial Proteins