Genetic Variations of the Asian Honey Bee Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793 in Kalimantan - Indonesia and Their Relationships Across Asia

The vast distribution of Apis cerana (F.) across the Asian continent is a source of high genetic variations, particularly in areas experiencing geological formation and isolation, such as the Sundaland, including Kalimantan, Indonesia. This study investigated the genetic variations of A. cerana in the five provinces in Kalimantan and their relationships across Asia. We utilized mitochondrial DNA of COI, COII, and igs COI/COII sequences for genetic studies of 29 colonies from 12 locations in the five provinces of Kalimantan. The trees and network data confirmed the two lineages of A. cerana in Kalimantan, i.e., the Indo-Malayan (Borneo haplotype) and Indonesian (Java haplotype), with a slightly higher population of the latter. The high Java haplotype in Kalimantan might be due to the anthropogenic impact that transferred this honey bee from Java to Kalimantan. This finding agreed with the previous studies of geometric morphometrics using the same colonies as this study. We identified the common Borneo1 haplotype in the Indo-Malayan lineage of A. cerana, confirming previous COI findings. Furthermore, three specific haplotypes and putative amino acids of A. cerana were found in East and South Kalimantan. Those differed among the Asian population and thus could serve as the markers for these regions. Based on the sequences studied, the phylogenetic tree showed distinct clusters of A. cerana in Kalimantan and Sundaland from other A. cerana in the Asian regions. This study revealed that the mitochondrial DNA sequences showed the origin of the A. cerana population in Kalimantan and among islands in Sundaland.