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Phylogeography and historical demography of the neotropical stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata (Hymenoptera, Apidae: incongruence between morphology and mitochondrial DNA

Phylogéographie et démographie historique de l’abeille sans aiguillon néotropicale Melipona quadrifasciata (Hymenoptera, Apidae) : manque de correspondance entre morphologie et ADN mitochondrial

Phylogeographie und historische Demographie der neotropischen stachellosen Biene Melipona quadrifasciata (Hymenoptera, Apidae): Gegensätze zwischen Morphologie und mitochondrialer DNA

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Abstract

The stingless bees are among the most abundant and ecologically important social invertebrates in tropical communities. The Neotropical stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata has two subspecies: M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata and M. quadrifasciata anthidioides. The main difference between subspecies are the yellow metassomal stripes, which are continuous in M. q. quadrifasciata and discontinuous in M. q. anthidioides. Recently, two populations were described with continuous stripes and inhabiting clearly disjunct areas in relation to M. q. quadrifasciata. We sequenced 852 bp of the mtDNA COI gene from 145 colonies from 56 localities, and for the first time performed a detailed phylogeographic study of a neotropical stingless bee. Phylogenetic analyses revealed the existence of two clades exhibiting a south to north distribution: southern populations comprise the subspecies M. q. quadrifasciata, and northern populations are composed of M. q. anthidioides and two disjunct populations with continuous stripes. The divergence time of these two phylogroups was estimated between 0.233 and 0.840 million years ago in the Pleistocene, a period of climatic changes and geomorphological alterations in the Neotropical region. No evidence of genetic structure in relation to the tergal stripes was found, indicating that the morphological trait regarding the pattern of stripes on tergites is not an accurate diagnostic for the subspecies of M. quadrifasciata.

Zusammenfassung

Stachellose Bienen gehören zu den häufigsten und ökologisch bedeutsamsten wirbellosen Tieren in tropischen Lebensgemeinschaften. Die neotropische stachellose Biene Melipona quadrifasciata hat zwei Unterarten: M. quadrifasciata quadrifasciata und M. quadrifasciata anthidioides. Das hauptsächliche Unterscheidungsmerkmal dieser beiden Unterarten sind gelbe metasomale Streifen, die bei M. q. quadrifasciata durchgehend, und bei M. q. anthidioides unterbrochen sind. Die Art ist entlang der Ostküste Brasiliens verbreitet, wobei M. q. quadrifasciata im Süden und M. q. anthidioides im Norden des Verbreitungsgebiets vorkommt.Vor kurzem wurden zwei Populationen mit zusammenhängenden Streifen beschrieben, die nördlich des von M. q. quadrifasciata besiedelten Gebietes in disjunkten Arealen vorkommen.

In dieser Studie untersuchen wir die populationsgenetische Struktur und die historische Demographie von M. quadrifasciata mit Hilfe von Sequenzen der mitochondrialen DNA aus umfangreichem Probenmaterial (Abb. 1 und Tab. S1, online material). Dabei untersuchen wir zwei Hauptfragen: (i) korreliert die morphologische Variation (Verteilung des Streifenmusters auf dem Abdomen) mit der Variation der mitochondrialen DNA? Mit anderen Worten, stammen die Populationen mit zusammenhängenden Streifen aus derselben mütterlichen Linie ab? (ii) Welche demographischen Ereignisse können die beobachteten phylogeographischen Muster erklären?

Zur Beantwortung dieser Fragen sequenzierten wir 852 bp der Untereinheit1 des Cytochromoxidase (CoI) Gens aus der mitochondrialen DNA von 145 Völken (1 Arbeiterin pro Volk), die entlang des Verbreitungsgebiets der Art gesammelt worden waren (Abb. 1). Die Ergebnisse von phylogeographischen Tests und Koaleszenzberechnungen machten deutlich, dass es zwei unterschiedliche Gruppen gibt: eine südliche Klade, die aus M. q. quadrifasciata besteht, und eine nördliche, die M. q. anthidioides sowie die beiden disjunkten Populationen mit durchgehenden Streifen beinhaltet. Interessanterweise sind also Formen, die durchgehende Streifen gemeinsam haben, nicht unbedingt monophyletisch; umgekehrt haben Individuen mit verschiedener Morphologie denselben mtDNA Haplotypen gemeinsam (H14 in Abb. 3). Wir schlagen vor, die durchgehenden tergalen Streifen in den diskjunkten Populationen als einen anzestralen Polymorphismus zu betrachten, da nach den Ergebnissen anderer Studien das Muster aus zusammenhängenden Streifen innerhalb der Untergattung Melipona (Melipona) ein plesiomorphes Merkmal zu sein scheint. Der Zeitpunkt der Divergenz der beiden Gruppen wurde auf die Zeit des Pleistozäns, zwischen 0,233 und 0,840 Millionen Jahren vor der Gegenwart bestimmt (online material, Abb. S2 und Tab. S1), die durch Klimaänderungen und geomorphologische Umbildungen in der neotropischen Region charakterisiert war. Ähnliche phylogeographische Muster wurden bei endemischen Wirbeltieren des Atlantischen Regenwaldes nachgewiesen, zum Beispiel bei Schlangen, Vögeln und Amphibien.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508090, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Henrique Batalha-Filho

  2. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Sudoeste da Bahia, 45200000, Jequié, Bahia, Brazil

    Ana M. Waldschmidt

  3. Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570000, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Lucio A. O. Campos, Mara G. Tavares & Tânia M. Fernandes-Salomão

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  1. Henrique Batalha-Filho
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  2. Ana M. Waldschmidt
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  3. Lucio A. O. Campos
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  5. Tânia M. Fernandes-Salomão
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Correspondence to Henrique Batalha-Filho.

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Batalha-Filho, H., Waldschmidt, A.M., Campos, L.A.O. et al. Phylogeography and historical demography of the neotropical stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata (Hymenoptera, Apidae: incongruence between morphology and mitochondrial DNA. Apidologie 41, 534–547 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1051/apido/2010001

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