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Genome-wide SNPs show hybridization of Varroa mites from different Apis hosts in Vietnam and Taiwan
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Edité par CCSD ; Springer Verlag -
International audience. AbstractVarroa destructor, an ectoparasite of Apis cerana (the Eastern honeybee), has attained global notoriety following the decimation caused by its host shift to Apis mellifera. Previous studies indicated that Varroa mites have geographic and host-specific mitochondrial haplotypes (mitotypes) in A. mellifera colonies, suggesting that only a few genetic strains (i.e., Korean and Japanese mitotypes) can effectively infest A. mellifera. However, growing evidence indicates that native mite populations of A. cerana can hybridize with the mites imported with A. mellifera colonies. This raises the possibility for continuous host shifts of Varroa mites and the consequential hybridizations among mites from different localities, leading to erasure of host specificity among mites of different mitotypes. We compared mitochondrial sequence data with restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) to test the veracity of the patterns indicated by mitochondrial data and to clarify the genetic differentiation of Varroa mites in Vietnam and Taiwan. Our mitotype analyses replicate previous studies, indicating that only a few Varroa mite mitotype lineages parasitize A. mellifera. However, our RAD-seq data reveal little evidence of the genetic isolation as suggested by the mitotype analyses, instead indicating that hybridization is likely occurring among Varroa mites from multiple different hosts and localities. This indicates that the local mite community of A. cerana might contribute to the genetic pool of mites parasitizing A. mellifera. Our findings suggest that the Varroa mite control strategies and the risk estimation of international apicultural trade should be reassessed.
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