Apis cerana cerana is a native honeybee species in China, which is widely distributed in all parts of the country, especially in the hills and mountains of the South China. Apis mellifera was introduced into China in the end of the 19th century. With interspecific competition and destruction of ecological environment, the number of Apis cerana cerana colonies in China declined sharply. In 2006, Apis cerana cerana was among the List of the Genetic Resources of Livestock and Poultry under Protection in China.
Located in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, China, Lishui City is a mountainous area and known as “the first ecological city in China” with the forest coverage rate of 80.8% and a variety of climate and vegetation. Lishui has a long history of raising Apis cerana cerana. In recent years, the number of Apis cerana cerana colonies in Lishui increased significantly. In order to understand the genetic diversity and taxonomic status of Apis cerana cerana in Lishui, the mitochondrial DNA tRNAleu-COⅡ sequences of 94 samples from each district and county of Lishui were determined and further analyzed in the study.
It was shown that the nucleotide polymorphism (Pi) was 0.003 52 and the haplotype diversity (Hd) was 0.772±0.036, which indicated that the genetic diversity of Apis cerana cerana in Lishui was high. Twenty haplotypes were found in 94 honeybee colonies. The main haplotype was found in 41.5% of the honeybee colonies and was identical to the main haplotype which was found in Apis cerana cerana in Fujian Province and also was identical to the sequence found in Guangzhou. Therefore, the results support Apis cerana cerana in Lishui belongs to the honeybee type of South China. However, the second most common haplotype in Lishui was different from that in Fujian Province. There were also two new haplotypes found in Lishui. The results indicated that Apis cerana cerana in Lishui had a unique genetic background. Furthermore, cluster analysis showed that the clusters of the haplotypes were closely associated with their geographical distribution, which indicated that different geographic Apis cerana cerana populations had been possibly differentiated by the geographical isolation in mountainous areas of Lishui. The above results are of great significance to the protection and reasonable use of the genetic resources of Apis cerana cerana in Lishui.