Cytochrome-b variation in Apis mellifera samples and its association with COI-COII patterns

• Published in: Genetica 2009-03, Vol.135 (2), p.149-155
• Main Authors: Ferreira, Kátia M, e Silva, Otávio Lino, Arias, Maria C, Del Lama, Marco A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; Apis mellifera; Bees - enzymology; Bees - genetics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Composite haplotypes; Cytochrome; Cytochrome-b; Cytochromes b - genetics; DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics; Electron Transport Complex IV - genetics; Electron Transport Complex IV - metabolism; Evolutionary Biology; Genetic Variation; Haplotypes; Human Genetics; Life Sciences; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; mitochondrial DNA; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Restriction Mapping; RFLP-PCR; Sequence Analysis, DNA
• ISSN: 0016-6707; 1573-6857
• DOI: 10.1007/s10709-008-9264-8

Five Mbo I (Mbo-A, Mbo-M, Mbo-C¹, Mbo-C² and Mbo-C³) and Hinf I (Hinf-1 to Hinf-5) patterns were observed in Apis mellifera samples after restriction of a 485 bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome-b (cyt-b) gene. Associating the cyt-b Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pattern of each sample to its respective previously established COI-COII (Dra I sites) pattern, five restriction patterns (Mbo-C¹, Mbo-C², Mbo-C³, Hinf-1 and Hinf-4) were observed in samples of maternal origin associated to the evolutionary branch C. No deletions or insertions were observed and the nucleotide substitution rate was estimated at 5.4%. Higher nucleotide diversity was observed among the branch C-haplotypes when compared with A and M lineages. Further studies are needed to confirm if the cyt-b + COI-COII haplotypes help to assign certain phylogeographic patterns to the branch C and to clarify phylogenetic relationships among A. mellifera subspecies.