Vespa velutina: using microsatellites to compare the genetic diversity of founding nests in the leading-edge populations in Portugal
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The invasive yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) is a voracious predator of honeybees and other pollinators, its diffusion generates relevant environmental and socio-economic impacts. Native from China, it rapidly started spreading throughout Europe, after its first sight in France in 2004. V. v. nigrithorax was first reported in Portugal, in the region of Viana do Castelo, in 2011 and since then it has been spreading through the country, with Bragança representing the Northeastern edge of its distribution in Portugal. The aim of this study was to compare the genetic diversity between nests collected in Viana do Castelo and Bragança. Four nests were analysed, two from Viana do Castelo and two from Bragança. Each sample nest is represented by 30 workers making up a total of 120 individuals analysed for this study. Total DNA was extracted from the thorax of each individual using the Nucleospin® Tissue (Macherey-Nagel). The individuals were genotyped using 16 microsatellite loci divided into three multiplex combinations. The lengths of the fragments were determined using GeneMapper 3.7 (Applied Biosystems). Genetic diversity statistics, which included observed number of alleles (Na), effective number of alleles (Ne), observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He), and unbiased expected heterozygosity (uHe) were estimated using GENALEX 6.5. This software was also implemented to assess genetic structure using a Principal Coordinate Analyses (PCoA). Our results show that both nests from both origins have low genetic diversity, with Bragança showing higher genetic diversity (Na=2; Ne= 1.600; Ho=0.427; He=0.330; uHe=0.333) than Viana do Castelo (Na=1.750; Ne=1.482; Ho=0.363; He=0.258; uHe=0.260). The genetic structure show that distinct groups might be in the origin of both nests’ location. These results suggest that the population of Vespa velutina from the region of Bragança may be an expansion from multiple source populations.
