Nuclear DNA PCR-RFLPs that distinguish African and European honey bee groups of subspecies. II: Conversion of long PCR markers to standard PCR.

Nuclear DNA PCR-RFLPs previously found in amplifications of three long (> 5 kbp) anonymous regions of DNA were made analyzable using standard PCR procedures. RFLP analyses were simplified by restricting the amplifications to sections, within each locus, that contained most of the informative polymorphic sites. AluI digests of locus L-1 section 2 (L-1S2) revealed three suballeles of which one was African-specific (Apis mellifera scutellata Lepeletier) and one was east European-predominant (A. m. ligustica Spinola, A. m. carnica Pollman, and A. m. caucasica Gorbachev). Alleles found originally at locus L-2 with AvaI were determined in RFLP analysis of two sections, L-2S1int and L-2S2, resulting in two African-specific and two east European-predominant suballeles. Suballele identity was determined by the combination of banding patterns from both fragments. Polymorphisms revealed by HaeIII in locus L-2 were analyzed in amplifications and digests of L-2SM1int. an 830 bpfragment within L-2S1. Seven suballeles were found of which two were African-specific and three were east European-specific or predominant, including one suballele specific to the east European subspecies A. m. caucasica. In locus L-5, RFLPs were detected with HaeIII, DdeI, and SpeI. HaeIII polymorphisms were analyzed by amplification and digestion offragments L-5S1xt and L-5S1ter: Five suballeles were found of which three were African-specific and one east European-predominant. For DdeI, all five alleles originally found with long PCR could be identified in RFLP analyses of three sections. Two African-specific, one east European-specific, and one west European-predominant (A. m. mellifera L. and A. m. iberica Goetze) suballeles were found. A west European-predominant suballele was also found in RFLP analysis of L-5S3 with SpeI. Allele frequency data from Old World and US. populations are presented.