Credit: Ben Oldroyd/The University of SydneyAdaptability in the face of minimal hereditary variety might be an excellent sign for threatened speciesFor over 10 years, invasive Asian honeybees have defied evolutionary expectations and developed a flourishing population in North Queensland, much to the annoyance of the honey market and biosecurity officials.New research study published in Current Biology has revealed the types, Apis cerana, has conquered what is understood as a genetic traffic jam to grow from a single swarm into a population of more than 10,000 colonies over a 10,000 square kilometre location– which is about the size of Greater Sydney.Co-lead author Dr Rosalyn Gloag from the University of Sydney School of Life and Environmental Sciences said: “Our study of this bee population shows that some species can rapidly adjust to new environments in spite of starting with really low genetic diversity relative to their native-range populations. Credit: Dr Ros Gloag”However, we have shown that this invasive population of honeybees has actually rapidly adjusted considering that its arrival, despite having suffered a high loss in hereditary variety,” she said.The research group highlights the significance of this case research study for comprehending population strength in general. Credit: Dr Ros Gloag”We were fortunate to have a total sample timeline of this invasive population thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, which sampled the population thoroughly during the early years of the incursion as part of an obliteration effort,” Dr. Gloag stated.
Current research study has actually shown that invasive Asian honeybees have actually quickly adjusted and thrived in North Queensland, growing to over 10,000 colonies regardless of low genetic diversity. A single Asian honeybee (image taken in its natural variety in China). Credit: Ben Oldroyd/The University of SydneyAdaptability in the face of minimal hereditary variety might be an excellent indication for threatened speciesFor over 10 years, invasive Asian honeybees have defied evolutionary expectations and established a thriving population in North Queensland, much to the annoyance of the honey industry and biosecurity officials.New research published in Current Biology has shown the species, Apis cerana, has actually conquered what is referred to as a hereditary bottleneck to grow from a single swarm into a population of more than 10,000 colonies over a 10,000 square kilometre location– which has to do with the size of Greater Sydney.Co-lead author Dr Rosalyn Gloag from the University of Sydney School of Life and Environmental Sciences said: “Our study of this bee population shows that some types can quickly adapt to brand-new environments despite beginning with really low genetic diversity relative to their native-range populations.”Dr. Gloag said that high genetic diversity is typically presumed to be crucial for a population to quickly adapt to changing ecological conditions, such as when a types is translocated or experiences rapid environmental change caused by natural or climate change disasters.Swarm of invasive Apis cerana in Cairns, North Queensland. Credit: Dr Ros Gloag”However, we have actually shown that this invasive population of honeybees has quickly adjusted given that its arrival, regardless of having actually suffered a high loss in genetic diversity,” she said.The research study group highlights the value of this case research study for comprehending population resilience in general.”This is a lot more crucial as we observe many species dealing with anthropogenic climate change,” Dr Gloag said.Dr Ros Gloag from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University. Dr. Gloag is pitcured here with a tetragonula hive (not the Asian honeybees of the study). Credit: The University of SydneyImportance of the StudyStudying the invasive population in Queensland provided the research study group an unusual complete genetic timeline of a natural intrusion, beginning from not long after the bees arrived.The arrival of the colony in 2007, likely from Papua New Guinea, was of issue to Australian biosecurity due to the fact that of the parasites the bees can carry. Ultimately these bees were discovered not to be bring the most feared of its parasites, the varroa mite, which has actually since arrived in Australia by an unidentified route, threatening the domestic honey industry.Asian honeybee swarm in Cairns, Queensland. Credit: Dr Ros Gloag”We were lucky to have a total sample timeline of this invasive population thanks to the amazing efforts of the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, which tested the population thoroughly during the early years of the incursion as part of a removal attempt,” Dr. Gloag stated.”Although that effort was not successful, the biological product collected has actually been extremely valuable for comprehending how these intrusions proceed. Which in turn helps us prepare better for future intrusions,” she said.Access to this detailed sample set allowed the scientists to re-sequence whole genomes of 118 private bees collected over 10 years.”We might essentially observe natural selection acting over time in a population that began with low hereditary diversity,” Dr Gloag stated. “From this unique viewpoint, we might see that choice was acting upon the variation in genomes that had actually shown up with the handful of original bees. It wasnt variation that occurred later by anomalies.”In other words, some species with really low hereditary diversity can adjust extremely quickly,” she stated.”While this may be problem for environments handling recently arrived intrusive types, its potentially good news for populations that have short-lived crashes in the face of climate modification or other natural or human-induced catastrophes, such as bushfires.”Reference: “Post-invasion choice acts upon standing genetic variation in spite of a severe starting bottleneck” by Kathleen A. Dogantzis, Rika Raffiudin, Ramadhani Eka Putra, Ismail Shaleh, Ida M. Conflitti, Mateus Pepinelli, John Roberts, Michael Holmes, Benjamin P. Oldroyd, Amro Zayed and Rosalyn Gloag, 29 February 2024, Current Biology.DOI: 10.1016/ j.cub.2024.02.010 The research study was performed in partnership with scientists at York University (Canada), IPB University (Indonesia), Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia) and the CSIRO (Australia).
