Wongsa Kanyanat, Jeratthitikul Ekgachai, Poolprasert Pisit, Duangphakdee Orawan, Rattanawannee Atsalek
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand.
Animal Systematic and Molecular Ecology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 4;19(12):e0312386. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312386. eCollection 2024.
Stingless beekeeping, also known as meliponiculture, has gained increasing popularity in many tropical and subtropical countries for its use in commercial pollination and high-value honey and propolis production. However, this rising interest in stingless beekeeping has led to significant geographical displacements of bee colonies by beekeepers, occasionally surpassing their native ranges. Consequently, this affects local bee populations by disrupting gene flow across unnaturally large geographic scales. For Heterotrigona itama, one of the most common stingless bee species in Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, there is concern that large-scale artificial propagation by beekeepers utilizing a limited number of bee colonies will lead to inbreeding. This practice leads to increased inbreeding within managed populations and introgression into wild populations. These concerns highlight the need for careful management practices in stingless beekeeping to mitigate potential adverse effects. To assess the genetic structure of H. itama in Thailand, 70 colonies were sampled, and partially sequenced cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene, large ribosomal subunit rRNA gene (16S rRNA), and 28S large ribosomal subunit rDNA gene (28S rRNA) were analyzed. Our results showed slightly lower nuclear genetic variability, but higher mitochondrial genetic variability, which can be attributed to gene flow, colony transport, and nest division. We suggest that increasing the number of colonies maintained through nest division does not negatively affect genetic variability, as it is maintained by small-scale male dispersal and human-mediated nest transport. However, caution should be exercised when transporting nests from distant localities, considering the high genetic differentiation observed between samples from Narathiwat and those from Krabi and Nakhon Si Thammarat provinces, which might indicate local adaptation.
无刺蜂养殖，也称为麦卢卡蜂养殖，在许多热带和亚热带国家越来越受欢迎，因为它可用于商业授粉以及生产高价值的蜂蜜和蜂胶。然而，对无刺蜂养殖兴趣的增加导致养蜂人对蜂群进行了大规模的地理迁移，偶尔会超出其原生范围。因此，这通过在非自然的大地理尺度上扰乱基因流动，影响了当地的蜜蜂种群。对于异背无刺蜂（Heterotrigona itama），这是包括泰国在内的东南亚国家最常见的无刺蜂物种之一，人们担心养蜂人利用数量有限的蜂群进行大规模人工繁殖会导致近亲繁殖。这种做法导致管理种群内近亲繁殖增加，并渗入野生种群。这些担忧凸显了在无刺蜂养殖中需要谨慎管理措施，以减轻潜在的不利影响。为了评估泰国异背无刺蜂的遗传结构，采集了70个蜂群的样本，并对细胞色素c氧化酶亚基1（COI）基因、大核糖体亚基rRNA基因（16S rRNA）和28S大核糖体亚基rDNA基因（28S rRNA）进行了部分测序分析。我们的结果显示，核遗传变异性略低，但线粒体遗传变异性较高，这可归因于基因流动、蜂群运输和蜂巢分裂。我们建议，通过蜂巢分裂维持的蜂群数量增加不会对遗传变异性产生负面影响，因为它是由小规模的雄蜂扩散和人为介导的蜂巢运输维持的。然而，考虑到北大年府与甲米府和洛坤府样本之间观察到的高遗传分化，这可能表明存在局部适应性，因此从遥远地区运输蜂巢时应谨慎行事。
