Genetic origins of honey bees (Apis mellifera) on Kangaroo Island and Norfolk Island (Australia) and the Kingdom of Tonga

Abstract

We examine the origin of honey bee (Apis mellifera) populations in Kangaroo Island (Australia), Norfolk Island (Australia) and the Kingdom of Tonga using a highly polymorphic mitochondrial DNA region and a panel of 37 single nucleotide polymorphisms that assigns ancestry to three evolutionary lineages: Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Africa. We also examine inbreeding coefficients and genetic variation using microsatellites and mitochondrial sequencing. The honey bees of Kangaroo Island have a high proportion of Eastern European ancestry (90.2%), consistent with claims that they are of the subspecies A. m. ligustica. The honey bees of Norfolk Island also had a majority of ancestry from Eastern Europe (73.1%) with some contribution from Western Europe (21.2%). The honey bees of Tonga are mainly of Western European (70.3%) origin with some Eastern European ancestry (27.4%). Despite the suspected severe bottlenecks experienced by these island population, inbreeding coefficients were low.