Caracterização molecular das populações de Melipona subnitida Ducke, 1910 (Apidae, Meliponini)

Abstract

The stingless bee Melipona subnitida Ducke (1910), mostly known as Jandaíra, is endemic to Northeastern Brazil. Keeping such species is an activity of ecological and economic importance for the pollination services that bees provide to plant communities of Caatinga and also for the exploitation of their products, both of which increase the income of farmes. Habitat fragmentation can decrease the availability of essential resources and the genetic variability of populations, as well as can cause changes in haplotype frequencies and reduce the adaptive potential of the species. Knowledge about the diversity of stingless bees by means of molecular tools would contribute to the understanding of processes that shape or have shaped their populations, giving insights on strategies for bee management, rational exploitation and conservation. This work aimed to study the populations of M. subnitida from the southern limit of its natural distribution, and to assess populations of this species that have been isolated for 31 years in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (Pernambuco state), using analysis of mitochondrial DNA for the COI gene (cytochrome oxidase I). The results showed that the continent genetic divergence found among populations is low staying around 17%, and shelter five mitochondrial haplotypes, these four are new haplotypes, although they vary for a few mutation steps. There was a low haplotype and nucleotide diversity in the Fernando de Noronha populations in relation to the continental populations. Of the 14 haplotypes identified on the mainland, only one (H4) is shared by the Fernando de Noronha population. Three new haplotypes (H12, H13 and H14) were identified in the continent populations.