Conservation of the dark bee (<i>Apis mellifera mellifera</i>): Estimating C-lineage introgression in Nordic breeding stocks

Displacement and admixture are threatening the survival and genetic integrity of the European dark bee, <i>Apis mellifera mellifera</i>. Studies on the phenotype-genotype map and genotype by environment interactions in honey bees are demonstrating that variation at subspecies level exists and is worth conserving. SNP-based tools for monitoring genetic integrity in bees have been developed, but are not yet widely used by European dark bee breeders. We used a panel of ancestry informative SNP markers to assess the level of admixture in Nordic dark bee breeding stocks. We found that bee breeders falsely classified admixed stocks based on morphometry as purebred and vice versa. Even though most Nordic <i>A. m. mellifera</i> breeding stocks have low proportions of C-lineage ancestry, we recommend to incorporate genotyping in Nordic dark bee breeding programmes to ensure that minimal genetic diversity is lost, while the genetic integrity of the subspecies is maintained.种群替代与基因混杂正威胁着欧洲黑蜂（Apis mellifera mellifera）的生存与遗传完整性。针对蜜蜂的表型-基因组图谱及基因型-环境互作的相关研究表明，亚种水平的遗传变异确实存在且具有保护价值。目前已开发出基于单核苷酸多态性（Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, SNP）的蜜蜂遗传完整性监测工具，但尚未被欧洲黑蜂育种者广泛应用。本研究采用一组祖先信息性SNP标记，对北欧黑蜂育种种群的基因混杂水平进行了评估。结果发现，育种者仅凭形态学特征，会将混杂种群误判为纯种，反之亦然。尽管多数北欧欧洲黑蜂育种种群的C谱系祖先占比极低，我们仍建议在北欧黑蜂育种计划中纳入基因分型环节，以在维持该亚种遗传完整性的同时，最大限度减少遗传多样性的流失。