Ilyasov R.A., Han G.Y., Lee M.L., Kim K.W., Proshchalykin M.Y., Lelej A.S., Park J.H., Takahashi J.I., Kwon H.W., Nikolenko A.G.
Genetika 2021; 57(5): 557-571
A. c. ussuriensis is the most northern subspecies of the honey bee A. cerana, distributed in the taiga of Primorsky and Khabarovsky territories up to 47°54′ N. Genetic studies of this subspecies are of great interest for science and beekeeping, since all adaptive characters were formed under the influence of the environment without human intervention. We sequenced and annotated the complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of honey bee subspecies Apis cerana ussuriensis Ilyasov et al., 2019 (AP018450) from Primorsky Territory and Apis cerana koreana Ilyasov et al., 2019 (AP018431) from South Korea and six exons of the gene vitellogenin VG E2–E7 of nuclear DNA (nDNA) of honey bee subspecies A. c. ussuriensis, A. c. koreana, A. c. japonica, A. c. cerana, and A. c. indica Fabricius, 1798. The method of cluster analysis of the sequences of mtDNA and the gene VG of nDNA showed the separation of bees into two groups, including the southern subspecies A. c. indica and northern subspecies A. c. ussuriensis, A. c. koreana, A. c. japonica, A. c. cerana. Based on genetic divergence, it was shown that the subspecies A. c. ussuriensis is genetically close to A. c. japonica, A. c. koreana and A. c. cerana than with a subspecies A. c. indica. Values of genetic divergence (0.80–8.00%) and Jukes-Cantor genetic distance (0.005–0.100) for mtDNA and gene VG of nDNA between A. subspecies A. c. ussuriensis, A. c. koreana, A. c. japonica, A. c. cerana, A. c. indica are within intraspecies differences between insect subspecies. The estimated time of origin of A. cerana subspecies was rated about 2–1 million years ago.
