Turkish honeybees:: Genetic variation and evidence for a fourth lineage of Apis mellifera mtDNA

The mtDNA of bees from 84 colonies of Turkish honeybees (Apis mellifera) was surveyed for variation at four diagnostic restriction sites and the sequence of a noncoding intergenic region. These colonies came from 16 locations, ranging from European Turkey and the western Mediterranean coast to the Caucasus Mountains along the Georgian border, the eastern Lake Van region, and the extreme south. Combined restriction site and sequence data revealed four haplotypes. Three haplotypes belonged to the eastern Mediterranean mtDNA lineage. The fourth haplotype, which had a novel restriction site pattern and noncoding sequence, was found in samples from the extreme south, near the Syrian border. We found two different noncoding sequences among the eastern Mediterranean haplotypes. The 'Caucasian' sequence matches that described from A.m. caucasica, and the 'Anatolian' sequence matches that of A.m. carnica. The frequency of the 'Caucasian' sequence was highest (98100%) in sites near the Georgian border and decreased steeply to the south and west. Elsewhere the Anatolian sequence was found. In European Turkey (Thrace) a restriction site polymorphism previously reported from A. m. carnica in Austria and the Balkans was present at high frequency. A novel mtDNA haplotype with a unique restriction site pattern and noncoding sequence was found among bees from Hatay, in the extreme south near the Syrian border. This haplotype differed from the three previously known lineages of honeybee mtDNA - African, western European, and eastern Mediterranean - and may represent a fourth mitochondrial lineage.