Genome sequencing of the stingless bee Melipona capixaba
Genome sequencing of the critically endangered stingless bee Melipona capixaba as part of the ORG.one project https://org.one/oo”. Melipona capixaba (Hymenoptera, Apidae) is a native species of stingless bee from Brazil with significant ecological, social, and economic importance. It has one of the smallest geographic distributions for a stingless bee, being restricted to the mountains of the central portion of the Espírito Santo state, in southeastern Brazil. This has contributed to the species being classified as endangered on the Official Brazilian Red List. Despite its ecological value in Brazil and its concerning conservation status, little is known about the genomic constitution of this stingless bee. The genome size of Melipona capixaba has been estimated at 1.38 pg (1C DNA), distributed across 18 chromosomes (2n = 18). In this project, we sequenced the genome of Melipona capixaba with approximately 25x coverage, using Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology. These data will support future studies on the species' evolutionary biology, population genetics, and structural and functional genomics.