Genomic divergence and a lack of introgression between commercial and wild bumblebees, Bombus terrestris

Description

Human-mediated movement of non-native commercial bumblebees used for pollination services can affect local pollinator populations via hybridization. However, the extent of genomic introgression and evolutionary divergence between wild and commercial bumblebees has yet to be fully explored.
A deeper understanding about the consequences of introgressive hybridization is important since wild populations could be faced with the potential disruption of locally adapted genes through introgression of maladapted alleles originating from escaped commercial bumblebees. Thus, affecting the wild population’s ability to adapt and withstand future environmental change.

We compared whole genome sequencing data from wild (WB) and commercial (CB) Bombus terrestris from sites in southern Sweden with long-term exposure to imported B. terrestris and sites without such exposure. We examined evidence of introgression, dispersal and genome-wide selection signatures between the two groups. Despite the detection of CB individuals in natural environments at sites where CB where used, we found no evidence of genomic introgression among WB and CB in southern Sweden, suggests that the use of CB does not pose a genetic threat to local B. terrestris populations. We identified a highly divergent region on chromosome 11 of CB, which provided evidence for differential evolutionary processes operating on WB and CB.

Period	2022 Aug 24
Event title	6th European Congress of Conservation Biology: Biodiversity crisis in a changing world
Event type	Conference
Location	Prag, Czech RepublicShow on map