Pooled-Sequencing of U.S. Commercial Honey Bee Stocks

Understanding the genetic background of the honey bee stocks throughout the US is key for us to move forward and fully develop markers that are effective across populations. The initial honey bee genome was completed with one bee and the updated genome focused on tissue-specific analyses. This kind of reference genome provided the scientific community with a huge resource to conduct a multitude of wide-ranging studies. However it fails to capture the nuances of the genetic variation that is responsible for phenotypic differences seen among individual bees, colonies and populations. Highlighting this need for a broader genomic reference base is the fact that current work on marker assisted selection (MAS) in honey bees has shown that markers identified in one population do not seem to be informative across populations. By understanding and more fully documenting the variation, and also, expected vast similarities, across the different stocks of honey bees in the US, we will be able to make more informed decisions about potential markers for future development.