I

ANNO 4 Numero 1
Raffaele Dall’Olio, Marco Lodesani [1]

Genetic characterization of the Italian honeybee Apis mellifera ligustica L. by DNA microsatellite polymorphism

[1] CRA - Istituto nazionale di apicoltura, Bologna, Italy

Corresponding author: rdallolio@inapicoltura.org

The genetic variability of honeybees, Apis mellifera ligustica, was screened throughout the Italian peninsula and the island of Sardinia with eight polymorphic microsatellite markers in 379 colonies.

Other subspecies (Apis mellifera mellifera, Apis mellifera carnica and samples from the Buckfast breeding line) were genotyped for comparative analysis. Low Fis and Fst values suggested the absence of genetic structure within and among the sampled A. m. ligustica populations, although they were highly polymorphic according to the number of alleles detected and the heterozygosity observed.

Phylogenetic and individual analyses confirmed that A. m. ligustica resembles one large population, and this is probably due to the intensive beekeeping activities, such as migratory beekeeping and large scale commercial queen trading.

The results represent a useful reference data set for future local biodiversity conservation programs and other controlled breeding programs. Microsatellite DNA analyses allows for detection and monitoring of the introgression of foreign alleles into both endemic natural and commercial A. m. ligustica populations