Genetic differentiation of the giant honey bee (Apis dorsata) in Thailand analyzed by mitochondrial genes and microsatellites.

Genetic diversity and population differentiation of the giant honey bee (Apis dorsata) in Thailand were examined. Six PCR-RFLP mitotypes were generated from digestion of the COI-COII, Cytb-tRNA(ser), ATPase6-8, and lrRNA genes with Dra I and Hin fI. Low genetic diversity (h=0.074, pi=0.032%) and a lack of genetic population differentiation between A. dorsata originating from geographically different regions were observed from mtDNA polymorphisms (P > 0.05). In contrast, microsatellite (A14, A24, and A88) polymorphisms revealed a relatively high level of genetic diversity in A. dorsata (H (o)=0.68-0.74, average number of alleles per locus=6.0-9.0). Both A24 and A88 indicated significant population differentiation between bees from the north-to-central region (north, northeast, and central regions), peninsular Thailand, and Samui Island.