Three QTL in the honey bee Apis mellifera L. suppress reproduction of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor.

ABSTRACT: Varroa destructor is a highly virulent ectoparasitic mite of the honey bee Apis mellifera and a major cause of colony losses for global apiculture. Typically, chemical treatment is essential to control the parasite population in the honey bee colony. Nevertheless a few honey bee populations survive mite infestation without any treatment. We used one such Varroa mite tolerant honey bee lineage from the island of Gotland, Sweden, to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling reduced mite reproduction. We crossed a queen from this tolerant population with drones from susceptible colonies to rear hybrid queens. Two hybrid queens were used to produce a mapping population of haploid drones. We discriminated drone pupae with and without mite reproduction, and screened the genome for poten

SUBMITTER: Behrens D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3287329 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature