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Lack of allozyme variability amongVarroa mite populations

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Abstract

A gene-enzyme analysis was carried out on the honeybee miteVarroa jacobsoni. By means of gel electrophoresis, 17 presumptive gene loci, belonging to 14 enzyme systems, were scored. Adult female mites were collected in 12 apiaries from European countries and in one apiary from Beijing (China). The populations analysed were monomorphic for all the loci considered, almost all the individuals being homozygous for the same alleles. The breeding system and stochastic mechanisms during the spread ofV. jacobsoni over the world may account for the uncommonly low level of genetic variability observed. The genetic identity found among the analysed samples suggests that taxonomic differentiation is absent even among mite populations living in the different honeybee races considered.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia Applicata alla Difesa delle Piante, Università di Udine, Viale della Scienze, 208 I-33100, Udine, Italy

    Adriano Biasiolo

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  1. Adriano Biasiolo
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This research was supported by the Institut Technique de l'Apiculture (ITAPI), Bures-Sur-Yvette, France.

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Biasiolo, A. Lack of allozyme variability amongVarroa mite populations. Exp Appl Acarol 16, 287–294 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01218570

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