Consequences of the introduction of foreign Apis mellifera subspecies in the conservation of the honey bee from the Canary Islands

Honey bee populations from the Canary Islands have undergone processes of adaptation to unique island environment, so that their protection is of great value for maintaining the Canarian endemic flora. These populations belong to a branch of the African evolutionary lineage with Atlantic distribution and are characterized by the presence of particular mitochondrial haplotypes. These factors and the fact that they are adapted to the Canarian endemic flora make their conservation is of particular interest. Previous studies found that introgression from introduced honey bees belonging to other European is accused on Tenerife and El Hierro, of medium intensity on Gran Canaria and La Gomera and scarce on La Palma. The introduction of queen bees belonging to other races will have potentially altered the diversity of local populations of Canarian honey bees by hybridizing local queens with introduced drones. This situation described from a small number of samples collected in 1997 and 1998, must have changed due to plans for conservation and protection of the Canarian black honey bee supported by the Government of the Canary Islands.

The hypothesis of this project is that the introduction of non-native queens on the Canary Islands can be detected by characterizing specific molecular markers, which will allow quantifying the introgressive hybridization and comparing the resulting data with those obtained over a decade ago.

To do so we will:

1. assess the current diversity of the honey bee populations from the Canaries by characterizing the mitochondrial haplotype from a broad and significant sampling of all the islands.

2. determine the level of introgressive hybridization resulting from the introduction of non-native races. Microsatellite markers are particularly suitable for this type of analysis as in Apis mellifera there are described about 500 loci and bioinformatics tools are available for efficiently analyzing the cited hybridization processes.

The results may be applied for the selection of colonies with lower rates of introgression that are appropriate to develop conservation programs. Also conclusions would be obtained based on the dynamics of evolution experienced by local island populations. The findings of this study will provide the basis for developing programs for sustainable conservation of local populations on islands like La Palma and El Hierro where the introduction of queens can be controlled.

Research team

Principal Investigator

Dr. Pilar De la Rúa

Scientific staff

Dr. Alice Pinto

Dr. Irene Muñoz

Publications

1. Muñoz I., Madrid-Jiménez M.J., De la Rúa P. 2012. Temporal genetic analysis of an introgressed island honey bee population (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain). Journal of Apicultural Research 51: 144–146.

2. Muñoz I., De la Rúa P. 2012. Temporal analysis of the genetic diversity in a honey bee mating area of an island population (La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain). Journal of Apicultural Science 55: 141–148.

3. Pinto M.A., Muñoz I., Chávez-Galarza J., De la Rúa P. 2012.The Atlantic side of the Iberian Peninsula: a hot-spot of novel African honey bee maternal diversity. Apidologie 43: 663–673.

4. Chahbar N., Muñoz I., Dall’Olio R., De la Rúa P., Serrano J., Doumandji S. 2012. Population structure of North African honey bees is influenced by both biological and anthropogenic factors. Journal of Insect Conservation (in press) (DOI: 10.1007/s10841-012-9520-1).

5. Muñoz I., Pinto M.A., De la Rúa P. 2013. Temporal changes in mitochondrial diversity highlights contrasting population events in Macaronesian honey bees. Apidologie (in press) (DOI: 10.1007/s13592-012-0179-0).

6. Pinto M.A., Henriques D., Neto M., Guedes H., Muñoz I., Azevedo J., De la Rúa P. 2013. Maternal diversity patterns of Ibero-Atlantic populations reveal further complexity of Iberian honey bees. Apidologie (in press) (DOI: 10.1007/s13592-013-0192-y).

Communications to Congresses

INTERNATIONAL:

1. Madrid-Jimenez M. J., Muñoz I., De la Rúa P. Temporal mitochondrial variation in honeybee populations from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain). 41st Apimondia Congress. Montpellier (Francia). 2009.

2. De la Rúa P., Muñoz I. Revealing molecular biodiversity within East-European honey bees. 4th European Conference of Apidology. Ankara (Turquía). 2010.

3. Muñoz I., De la Rúa P. Biodiversity of the honeybee populations from La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) and influence of the conservation program on a natural mating area. 4th European Conference of Apidology. Ankara (Turquía). 2010.

4. Pinto A., Muñoz I., Moura I., Souza L., Baptista P., Pires S., De la Rúa P. Temporal patterns of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) mitochondrial DNA variation in the archipelago of Azores (Portugal). 4th European Conference of Apidology. Ankara (Turquía). 2010.

5. Pinto A., Muñoz I., Brandão, Neto M., Guedes H., Souza L., Baptista P., Pires S., De la Rúa P. Spatial patterns of honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) genetic diversity in continental Portugal: the story told by mitochondrial DNA. 4th European Conference of Apidology. Ankara (Turquía). 2010.

6. Pinto M.A., Johnston J.S., Azevedo J., Brandão A., Moura I., Muñoz I., De la Rua P., Patton J.C. A Landscape Genetics approach to unravel the complex evolutionary history of the Iberian honey bee hybrid zone. IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference. Bragança (Portugal). 2010.

7. Pinto M.A., Muñoz I., Neto M., Guedes H., Galarza J., Souza L., Pires S., De la Rua P., Patterns of genetic variation of Apis mellifera iberiensis: insights from the populations inhabiting the Atlantic side of the Iberian Peninsula. 42º International Apicultural Congress (APIMONDIA). Buenos Aires (Argentina). 2011.

8. Pinto M.A., Muñoz I., De la Rua P. The Atlantic side of the Iberian Peninsula: a hot-spot of novel maternal honey bee diversity. 42º International Apicultural Congress (APIMONDIA). Buenos Aires (Argentina). 2011.

9. De la Rúa P., Muñoz I. The genetic diversity and structure of East-European honeybees: implications to their conservation. 1st International Symposium on the Carniolan honey bee. Celje (Slovenia). 2012.

10. Muñoz I, De la Rúa P. Fine-scale population genetics of East European Apis mellifera reveal differentation and introgression events. 5th European Conference of Apidology. Halle (Germany) 2012.

11. Muñoz I, Pinto MA, De la Rúa P. The impact of apiculture on the genetic structure of Atlantic island honeybee populations (Apis mellifera L.). 5th European Conference of Apidology. Halle (Germany) 2012.

NATIONAL:

1. De la Rúa P., Madrid-Jiménez M.J., Muñoz I. Ausencia de variación temporal en la estructura poblacional de Apis mellifera en Tenerife. II Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Biología Evolutiva. Valencia (España), diciembre 2009.

2. Pinto M. A., Muñoz I., Brandão A., Moura I., Azevedo J., De la Rúa P., Johnston J. S., Patton J. C. Patrones y procesos de variación (neutral y adaptativa) de la abeja ibérica en el área de hibridación. VI Congreso Nacional de Apicultura. Córdoba (España), noviembre 2010.

3. Muñoz I., Pinto M. A., De la Rúa P. Patrón espacial de la variación molecular de Apis mellifera en Gran Canaria y La Gomera (Islas Canarias). VI Congreso Nacional de Apicultura. Córdoba (España), noviembre 2010.

4. Muñoz I., De la Rúa P. Cuantificación de la hibridación introgresiva intraespecífica: el caso de Apis mellifera en las islas macaronésicas. 3er Congreso de la Sociedad Española de Biología Evolutiva. Madrid (España), noviembre 2011.

5. Muñoz I., Pinto M.A. y De la Rúa P. Análisis temporal de la variabilidad del ADN mitocondrial de Apis mellifera en las Islas Canarias. Primer Congreso Ibérico de Sistemática Animal. Madrid (España), enero 2012.

6. Muñoz I., Cepero A., Pinto A., Martín-Hernández R., Higes M., De la Rúa P. Variación espacial y temporal en la incidencia de la nosemosis relacionada con la introducción de reinas en las poblaciones insulares de abejas. II Congreso Ibérico de Apicultura. Guadalajara (España), octubre 2012.

Suportted by