Fernandes Anderson, Werneck Hugo A, Pompolo Silvia G, Lopes Denilce M
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, 78300-000 Tangará da Serra MT, Brasil.
An Acad Bras Cienc. 2013 Sep;85(3):937-44. doi: 10.1590/S0001-37652013005000050.
Euglossini are solitary bees considered important pollinators of many orchid species. Information regarding chromosome organization is available for only a small number of species in this group. In the present work, the species Euglossa townsendi and E. carolina were analyzed by cytogenetic techniques to collect information that may aid the understanding of their evolution and chromosomal organization. The chromosome number found was n = 21 for males and 2n = 42 for females in the two species. The distribution and amount of heterochromatin regions differed in the two species analyzed, where they were classified as high or low heterochromatin content, similarly to what has already been performed in social bee species of the genus Melipona. Banding patterns found in this study suggest that other mechanisms may have occurred in the karyotype evolution of this group, unlike those suggested for social bees and ants. Karyotype evolution of solitary bees appears to have occurred as an event separate from other hymenopterans and did not involve chromosome fissions and heterochromatin amplification.
Euglossini 是独居蜂，被认为是许多兰花物种的重要传粉者。关于该类群中只有少数物种有染色体组织的相关信息。在本研究中，运用细胞遗传学技术对汤森氏尤加利蜂（Euglossa townsendi）和卡罗来纳尤加利蜂（E. carolina）进行分析，以收集有助于理解它们的进化和染色体组织的信息。在这两个物种中，发现雄性的染色体数为n = 21，雌性为2n = 42。在所分析的两个物种中，异染色质区域的分布和数量有所不同，它们被归类为“高”或“低”异染色质含量，这与在无刺蜂属（Melipona）的群居蜂物种中所做的分类相似。本研究中发现的带型模式表明，该类群的核型进化可能发生了其他机制，这与群居蜂和蚂蚁的情况不同。独居蜂的核型进化似乎是与其他膜翅目昆虫分开发生的一个事件，并且不涉及染色体裂变和异染色质扩增。
