Wing Geometric Morphometrics of Workers and Drones and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Provide Similar Genetic Structure in the Iberian Honey Bee (Apis mellifera iberiensis)

Author(s)

Henriques, Dora ^[1] ; Chavez-Galarza, Julio ^{[1, 2]} ; Teixeira, S. G. Juliana ^[3] ; Ferreira, Helena ^[1] ; Neves, J. Catia ^[1] ; Francoy, Tiago M. ^[4] ; Pinto, M. Alice ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Inst Politecn Braganca, Ctr Invest Montanha CIMO, Campus Sta Apolonia, P-5300253 Braganca - Portugal

^[2] Univ Nacl Canete, Escola Agron, Urb Rosa Hualcara, Calle Canal Maria Angola S-N, Lima 15701 - Peru

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Av Bandeirantes 3900, BR-14040900 Ribeirao Preto - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Escola Artes Ciencias & Humanidades, Rua Arlindo Bettio 1000, BR-03828000 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: INSECTS; v. 11, n. 2 FEB 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Wing geometric morphometrics has been applied to honey bees (Apis mellifera) in identification of evolutionary lineages or subspecies and, to a lesser extent, in assessing genetic structure within subspecies. Due to bias in the production of sterile females (workers) in a colony, most studies have used workers leaving the males (drones) as a neglected group. However, considering their importance as reproductive individuals, the use of drones should be incorporated in these analyses in order to better understand diversity patterns and underlying evolutionary processes. Here, we assessed the usefulness of drone wings, as well as the power of wing geometric morphometrics, in capturing the signature of complex evolutionary processes by examining wing shape data, integrated with geographical information, from 711 colonies sampled across the entire distributional range of Apis mellifera iberiensis in Iberia. We compared the genetic patterns reconstructed from spatially-explicit shape variation extracted from wings of both sexes with that previously reported using 383 genome-wide SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms). Our results indicate that the spatial structure retrieved from wings of drones and workers was similar (r = 0.93) and congruent with that inferred from SNPs (r = 0.90 for drones; r = 0.87 for workers), corroborating the clinal pattern that has been described for A. m. iberiensis using other genetic markers. In addition to showing that drone wings carry valuable genetic information, this study highlights the capability of wing geometric morphometrics in capturing complex genetic patterns, offering a reliable and low-cost alternative for preliminary estimation of population structure. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/02434-2 - Characterization of population of Mourella caerulea (Friese, 1900) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) by geometric morphometric wing, analysis of cuticular hydrocarbons and mtDNA.
• Grantee: Juliana Stephanie Galaschi Teixeira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 11/07857-9 - Populational characterization of orchid bees (Apidae, Euglossini) from São Paulo State using geometric morphometrics of wings, mitochondrial DNA variability and cuticular hydrocarbons
• Grantee: Tiago Mauricio Francoy
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Young Investigators Grants