THE ORIGIN OF WEST EUROPEAN SUBSPECIES OF HONEYBEES (APIS MELLIFERA): NEW INSIGHTS FROM MICROSATELLITE AND MITOCHONDRIAL DATA
Pierre Franck
Laboratoire Population, Génétique, Evolution, CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Laboratoire de Modélisation et de Biologie Evolutive, URLB-INRA, 488 rue Croix de Lavit, 34090 Montpellier cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorLionel Garnery
Laboratoire Population, Génétique, Evolution, CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorMichel Solignac
Laboratoire Population, Génétique, Evolution, CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorJean-Marie Cornuet
Laboratoire de Modélisation et de Biologie Evolutive, URLB-INRA, 488 rue Croix de Lavit, 34090 Montpellier cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorPierre Franck
Laboratoire Population, Génétique, Evolution, CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Laboratoire de Modélisation et de Biologie Evolutive, URLB-INRA, 488 rue Croix de Lavit, 34090 Montpellier cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorLionel Garnery
Laboratoire Population, Génétique, Evolution, CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorMichel Solignac
Laboratoire Population, Génétique, Evolution, CNRS, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorJean-Marie Cornuet
Laboratoire de Modélisation et de Biologie Evolutive, URLB-INRA, 488 rue Croix de Lavit, 34090 Montpellier cedex, France
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Apis mellifera is composed of three evolutionary branches including mainly African (branch A), western and northern European (branch M), and southeastern European (branch C) populations. The existence of morphological clines extending from the equator to the Polar Circle through Morocco and Spain raised the hypothesis that the branch M originated in Africa. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that branches A and M were characterized by highly diverged lineages implying very remote links between both branches. It also revealed that mtDNA haplotypes from lineages A coexisted with haplotypes M in the Iberian Peninsula and formed a south-north frequency cline, suggesting that this area could be a secondary contact zone between the two branches. By analyzing 11 populations sampled along a France-Spain/Portugal-Morocco-Guinea transect at 8 microsatellite loci and the DraI RFLP of the COI-COII mtDNA marker, we show that Iberian populations do not present any trace of “africanization” and are very similar to French populations when considering microsatellite markers. Therefore, the Iberian Peninsula is not a transition area. The higher haplotype A variability observed in Spanish and Portuguese samples compared to that found in Africa is explained by a higher mutation rate and multiple and recent introductions. Selection appears to be the best explanation to the morphological and allozymic clines and to the diffusion and maintenance of African haplotypes in Spain and Portugal.
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