title: Genetic Structure and Potential Environmental Determinants of Local Genetic Diversity in Japanese Honeybees (Apis cerana japonica).
abstract: Declines in honeybee populations have been a recent concern. Although causes of the declines remain unclear, environmental factors may be responsible. We focused on the potential environmental determinants of local populations of wild honeybees, Apis cerana japonica, in Japan. This subspecies has little genetic variation in terms of its mitochondrial DNA sequences, and genetic variations at nuclear loci are as yet unknown. We estimated the genetic structure and environmental determinants of local genetic diversity in nuclear microsatellite genotypes of fathers and mothers, inferred from workers collected at 139 sites. The genotypes of fathers and mothers showed weak isolation by distance and negligible genetic structure. The local genetic diversity was high in central Japan, decreasing toward the peripheries, and depended on the climate and land use characteristics of the sites. The local genetic diversity decreased as the annual precipitation increased, and increased as the proportion of urban and paddy field areas increased. Positive effects of natural forest area, which have also been observed in terms of forager abundance in farms, were not detected with respect to the local genetic diversity. The findings suggest that A. cerana japonica forms a single population connected by gene flow in its main distributional range, and that climate and landscape properties potentially affect its local genetic diversity.
authors.affiliation: Hokkaido Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Teruyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagamitsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Entomology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasuda
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Fuki
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saito-Morooka
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Biological Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Maki N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Global Environment Division, National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Mio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
authors.affiliation: Global Environment Division, National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goka
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sugiura
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeto
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Entomology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Kimiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Entomology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisatomo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taki
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics*; D002980:Climate; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004777:Environment; D051456:Gene Flow; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006238:Haploidy; D007564:Japan; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics