Investigation of genetic diversity and philogenetic relations with regard to mtDNA of bombus terrestris bee in Antalya region

Bombus terrestris L. worker bee samples were collected as material from 5 different commercial companies, 3 different natural areas (Fhaselis, Termessos, Bayatbademler), 3 different dense greenhouses areas (Aksu, Demre, Kumluca) and 1 plateau area (Geyikbayırı-Sinan Değirmeni) where greenhouses activities have been just beginning in this completed thesis project. 30 bees from each of locations. DNA extraction was performed by Chelex-100 and CTAB from all individuals and mtDNA COlb (cytocromoxidase Ib) and Cytb (cytochrome b) gene regions were amplified by PCR using specific primers. In total, SNP haplotypes were determined from 180 nucleotide sequences belonging to the mtDNA CO1b gene region and 180 nucleotide sequences belonging to the mtDNACytb gene region. Haplotype analysis revealed genetic structure of 12 populations and phylogenetic relationships between populations. As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that bombus samples in the natural areas near the greenhouses and commercial firms have high similarity in terms of the studied gene regions. This finding indicates that there is a gene flow in the vicinity of the colonies used in the greenhouse for the purpose of policing in crop production. The fact that the natural populations collected from different habitats constitute different branches from the commercial and greenhouses populations in the phylogenetic tree show that they have retained their genetic constructs. The results obtained suggest that the uncontrolled and imprudent use of commercial colonies will soon be a serious threat to the original B. terrestris gene sources.