Phylogenetic Analysis of Small Hive Beetles From Native to Introduced Populations

Wen Feng Bai; Junfeng Liu; Yuanzhen Liu; Wensu Han; Jay D Evans; Qiang Huang

doi:10.3389/fgene.2022.900795

Phylogenetic Analysis of Small Hive Beetles From Native to Introduced Populations

Front Genet. 2022 May 19:13:900795. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.900795. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Wen Feng Bai^{1

2}, Junfeng Liu³, Yuanzhen Liu⁴, Wensu Han⁵, Jay D Evans⁶, Qiang Huang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Honeybee Research Institute, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
² Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Honeybee Biology and Beekeeping, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
³ Periodicals Agency, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China.
⁴ Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁵ Environment and Plant Protection Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, China.
⁶ USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, United States.

Abstract

The small hive beetle (SHB), a social parasite of beehives, is native to sub-Saharan Africa and has spread to America, Europe, and Australia. Recently, these beetles invaded China, causing widespread colony collapses in the honeybee, Apis cerana. In this study, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in the beetle genome from its native range (Africa), a region that was invaded by SHBs nearly 30 years ago (America), and more recent invasions (Asia). The beetles in the United States formed the earliest branch and show signs of two decades of gene flow and local adaptation to differentiate this population from the native ones. The beetles in China were deep branched and showed the highest fixation index when compared to the US populations. The number of SNPs in overexpressed genes was significantly higher than the transcriptome. Gene-expression profiles presented here distinguish the characters between adult and larvae SHBs.

Keywords: SNP; evolution; honeybee; phylogeny; small hive beetle.