Wolbachia is present in apis mellifera capensis, A. m. scutellata, and their hybrid in Southern Africa

Abstract

Apis mellifera capensis, A. m. scutellata and their hybrids were screened by a sensitive Long PCR protocol for Wolbachia because this endosymbiont has been implicated in causing thelytoky in other Hymenoptera. Wolbachia was found in all workers of A. m. capensis examined, and in workers and drones of A. m. scutellata and in hybrid workers of these two subspecies. Cloning and sequencing indicated that all contained the same unique Wolbachia strain, named wCap-B1, which belongs to the Con Group because it displayed less than 2.5% sequence divergence from the reference strain from Tribolium confusum. wCap-B1 is closely related to Wolbachia from Diaphorina citri, Solenopsis invicta, Coleomegilla maculata lengi, Plutella xylostella, and Bemisia tabaci. Because no sequence differences were found among these bee populations, infection with this Wolbachia strain is unlikely to be associated with thelytoky in A. m. capensis.