Allozyme genetic polymorphism in Bulgarian honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) populations from the south-eastern part of the Rhodopes

Abstract

Allozyme genetic polymorphism in Bulgarian honey bee populations from four different locations in the south-eastern part of the Rhodopes Mountain was studied on six enzymic systems (MDH, ME, EST, ALP, PGM and HK) corresponding to six genetic loci. Allozyme analysis revealed that all studied loci were polymorphic in almost all investigated populations. The observed heterozygosity was found to range from 0.110 to 0.208 and Nei's genetic distance – between 0.016 and 0.061 among the studied populations. These honey bee populations were clustered in two groups in the UPGMA dendrogram. The Tihomir population was in a separate clade while other three populations (Kardzhali, Krumovgrad and Dolni Yurutci) were grouped together.

Keywords

• Honey bee
• Apis mellifera
• allozymes
• polymorphism
• Bulgaria