Genetic characterization of varroa destructor (family: varroidae) prevalent in honeybees (apis mellifera) in the province of Aydin in Turkey

The aim of the present study was to identify the haplotypes of the Varroa destructor mite which infects honeybees in the province of Aydın in Turkey, using two different modified techniques for the mitochondrial Cox1 gene of the mite. In order to confirm the haplotype, two primers differing in their sequence i.e. (ADA 01) as forward primer 5′-TACAAAGAGGGAAGAAGCAGCC-3′ and reverse primer 5′-GCCCCTATTCTTAATACATAGTGAAAATG-3′ and (ADA 02) with COXF primer [5′GG(A/G)GG(A/T)GA(C/T)CC(A/T)ATT(C/T)T(A/T)TATCAAC3′] and COXRa primer [5′GG(A/T)GACCTGT(A/TA(A/T)AATAGCAAATAC3′], were selected. Amplified DNA 376 bp in size was acquired using (ADA 01) forward primer 5′-TACAAAGAGGGAAGAAGCAGCC-3′ and reverse primer 5′-GCCCCTATTCTTAATACATAGTGAAAATG-3′. SacI restriction enzyme was applied to the amplified products; however, this restriction enzyme did not cut the DNA. Amplified DNA, 570 bp in size was obtained using (ADA 02) COXF primer [5'GG(A/G)GG(A/T)GA(C/T)CC(A/T)ATT(C/T)T(A/T)TATCAAC3'] COXRa and [5'GG(A/T)GACCTGT(A/TA(A/T)AATAGCAAATAC3']. XhoI and SacI restriction enzymes were used for the amplified products. Although, the SacI restriction enzyme did not cut the DNA, the XhoI restriction enzyme cut the amplified DNA into two fragments (bands), with the sizes of 270 and 300 bp two bands 270 and 300 bp. While comparing the results, these bands were found specific for Korean haplotype of V. destructor. In conclusion, all of the 200 samples of V. destructor examined in this study were identified to be the Korean haplotype. Key words: Varroa destructor, genetic characterization, Aydın