Molecular characterization of Mediterranean Region isolates of Varroa destructor

There are four morphologically distinguishable species, V.jacobsoni, V.underwoodi, V.rindereri and V.destructor, in the genus of Varroa. V.destructor is the most prevalent and pathogen species. There are different haplogroups which have different pathogenic effects in the species of V.destructor and also there are variants of these haplogroups. Korea 1 (K1) is the most prevalent and pathogenic haplogroup of V.destructor. The aim of this study was to determine the variants of V.destructor in Turkey by molecular characterization of the mite isolates which parasitise honey bees (A.mellifera) in the Mediterranean region. For this aim, a total of 125 mites were examined from Adana, Mersin, Antalya, Osmaniye and Burdur provinces. Each mite was accepted as an isolate. After the DNA extraction, 500 bp region of mt-COI and 985 bp region of mt-CytB genes were amplified by PCR. Obtained amplicons were sequenced and compared with the reference sequences from the GeneBank. At the same time, phylogenetic, haplotype and network analysis were performed. Analysis results showed that there were three variants of K1 haplogroup in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. One of the Burdur isolates was detected as a unique variant that has a different mutation from the other isolates in the GeneBank. For this reason we called it Burdur 1 variant of K1 haplogroup (K1:B1). Five isolates from Kepez, Konyaaltı and Döşemealtı counties of Antalya province was detected as P1 variant of Serbia. The most prevalent variant was V14. Further analysis with the reference sequences indicated that this was a variant group that contains K1:1, K1:2, K1:3, K1:4, K1:12, K1:14, K1:15 and Serbia S1 variants. At the end of the study, we decided that in addition to partial sequences of mt-COI and mt-CytB, other mitochondrial genes (COII, COIII, Atp6, ND4, ND5, ND4L) should be investigated for deep level haplotype and variant analysis and also microsatellite analysis should be performed for clear understanding of paternal inheritance and possible hybridization events.