Genetic characterization of melipona subnitida stingless bee in Brazilian Northeast

Abstract

The study of M. subnitida, a stingless bee well adapted to extreme environmental conditions, is noteworthy once the Northeastern Brazil faces climate changing predictions in which the precipitation rates are expected to decrease, and the average of temperatures to increase. The well-studied populations are limited to the Caatinga biome, where the species was considered endemic. However, the occurrence of this species has been reported in contrasting environments from arid region, such as mangrove and sandbanks in Maranhão state. Our primary goal was to characterize samples from these different environments and compare them with previously studied populations. We identified a unique mitochondrial haplotype per region. The haplotype found in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park was exclusive from this location and differed regarding the amino acid sequence when compared to the literature presented haplotypes from Caatinga, which might be related with different evolutionary processes in the distinct environments, though further studies are needed to confirm.