Livestock Studies 2016, Vol 56, Num, 2     (Pages: 048-055)

Determination of Genetic Variation in Some Native and Commercial B. terrestris Populations in Turkey by Microsatellite Markers

Hasan Meydan 1 ,Bahar Argun Karslı 2 ,Fehmi Gürel 2 ,Murat Soner Balcıoğlu 2 ,Mehmet Ali Yıldız 3

1 Akdeniz Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Tarımsal Biyoteknoloji Bölümü, Antalya, Türkiye
2 Akdeniz Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Zootekni Bölümü, Antalya, Türkiye
3 Ankara Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Zootekni Bölümü, Ankara, Türkiye
- Bombus terrestris L. is the most common bumble bee species found in Turkey`s natural fauna with all the major native vegetation types in Turkey. On the other hand B. terrestris is reared extensively today on a mass scale and is widely spread commercially in many countries including Turkey where it is used as a pollination agent. Worker bee samples were collected from 2 native B. terrestris populations and 2 commercial companies. The genetic structure of the native and commercial B. terrestris populations in Turkey were investigated by using 5 microsatellite markers (BT20, B100, B116, B119 and B126).

The mean number of alleles (Na), effective number of alleles (Ne), observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He), and Fıs values overall population were estimated as Na=7.8±4.9, Ne=4.6±3.1, Ho=0.480±0.228, He=0.637±0.293, Fıs=0.204±0.145 respectively. There was not significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the population. Most of the genetic variation was found within populations rather than among populations. Our results showed that all the B. terrestris native and commercial populations have similar genetic structure. Keywords : Bombus terrestris, microsatellites, genetic diversity