Irfan Kandemir

Mitochondrial DNA variation in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) populations from Turkey

Summary We have studied mitochondrial (mt) DNA variation in 334 honey bee colonies from 7 different geographic regions of Turkey. We have evaluated Dra I restriction profiles of the CO-I CO-II intergenic region, Hinf-I and Taq-I restriction profiles of the CO-I gene and EcoR-I restriction profiles of the whole mtDNA. We obtained three different mtDNA patterns by EcoR-I digestion. The pattern typical for A. m. carnica/A. m. ligustica predominated throughout Turkey (327 colonies, 97.9%). We observed the pattern common in African subspecies only in Hatay province (6 colonies, 1.8%) and a previously unreported pattern in one colony from Balıkesir province (0.3%). Dra-I restriction analysis of the CO-I CO-II intergenic region yielded seven haplotypes. Haplotype 1 (TrDra-1) was the most common one found in Turkey, whereas haplotype 2 (TrDra-2) was widely distributed in Eastern Anatolia. Based on mitochondrial ND2 sequences taken from two samples collected in each region, bees from Hatay clustered with A. m. lamarckii and A. m. meda (morphological A and O lineages), while bees from central Anatolia clustered within the C morphological lineage group.

Geographic distribution of the eastern honeybee, Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae), across ecological zones in China: morphological and molecular analyses.

Abstract The biogeography and intraspecific variability of the eastern cavity‐nesting honeybee, Apis cerana, are not very well known. We studied the variability of this species in China using morphometrical methods together with restriction and sequence analysis of two different regions of mitochondrial DNA. Samples of A. cerana were collected from feral or traditionally managed colonies in 19 locations of the Chinese mainland, covering the main ecological regions. Worker bees from each sample were dissected and morphometric characters were measured. The data were analysed with multivariate statistical procedures. Data were supplemented by previously published Chinese samples from the Oberursel data bank and reference samples of A. cerana from adjacent countries. A mitochondrial DNA fragment containing a non‐coding region was amplified and analysed with the restriction enzyme DraI. This fragment was sequenced for two samples. For a subset of samples, the subunit 2 of the mitochondrial NADH gene was amplified and sequenced. Morphometric analysis revealed a high degree of variation, strongly associated with ecological zones and correlated with geographical and climatic parameters. Two main clusters were apparent, one comprised the bees from the southern tropical seasonal rain forest region, showing strong associations to the bees of Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar. The second main cluster included the bees from the temperate deciduous broad‐leaved forest region, the subtropical evergreen broad‐leaved forest zone, the high, cold meadow and steppe region and the North, and showed increasing similarity to the bees of Korea and Japan. In particular, the bees from Qingzang plateau, on the fringe of the Ganshu province, were set apart by their exceptional body size, darkness and pilosity. There was no variation in DraI restriction patterns within China. Sequence variation of the mitochondrial ND2 region was consistent with geographic patterns of morphological variation. Bees of the South Yunnan region were set apart by characteristically broad abdominal sterna and wax mirrors, with this locally restricted trait transcending the main transition line at the northern limit of the tropical seasonal rain forest region. This northern limit appears to correspond to the separation line between A cerana indica and A. cerana cerana.

Map position of phosphoglucomutase (Pgm) locus on autosome IV of house fly (Diptera: Muscidae).

We determined the map position of phosphoglucomutase (Pgm) locus on autosome IV of housefly, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae), by using three and five point linkage test crosses. Test strains had visible mutant markers (car, bwb, cyw, and aabys). We analyzed 1738 offspring in total from two groups of single-pair matings by electrophoresis. Here, we report the linkage of Pgm locus to autosome IV loci curly wing (cyw) and yellow eyes (ye) with recombination frequency of 16.9 and 1.1%, respectively. We combined the distances calculated from this study and the previously published data. An updated linkage map of the M. domestica L. Autosome IV was drawn based on combined data in terms of real map units obtained from the mapping function.

Discrimination of Western Honey Bee Populations in Turkey using Geometric Morphometric Methods

Part of this article, by two members of the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ankara University, Ankara-Turkey, was presented at the International Symposium on Authenticity and Quality of Bee Products, April 2010, Crete. Using geometric morphometric approaches it has been found that, based on both landmark and outline analysis of forewing, the honey bees from western Turkey are statistically different from honey bees distributed in the other parts of Turkey.