An improved test for Africanized honeybee mitochondrial DNA

Abstract

Mitochondrial DNA derived from Apis mellifera scutellata, the ancestor of the Africanized bees of the New World, lacks a BglII restriction site found in other types of honeybee1,2. We present primers allowing amplification of a 485-bp section of the cytochrome b gene containing this site, using the polymerase chain reaction. Digestion of the amplifiel product with BglII yields contrasting patterns between Africanized and other honeybees. © 1991 Birkhäuser Verlag.