Meeting Abstract

P3.198  Friday, Jan. 6  Microsatellite Variation in Invasive and Native Populations of the Centaurea Leafcutting Bee HRANITZ, J.M.*; BARTHELL, J.F.; SULLIVAN, N.; RICCI, P.R.; Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania; University of Central Oklahoma; Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania; Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania jhranitz@bloomu.edu

The Centaurea leafcutting bee (Megachile apicalis) is an invasive solitary bee and an established member of the cavity-nesting bee community in the western U.S. As fine-scale genetic markers, microsatellite loci used in comparative population genetic analyses may identify factors underlying this biological invasion from contemporary samples of this species. Our objective in this study was to investigate the suitability of cross-species microsatellite primers to amplify microsatellite PCR products in native and invasive populations of M. apicalis. Use of existing microsatellite primers from related species provides a much faster and cheaper alternative to traditional microsatellite isolation methods. We used five of six microsatellite primer sets developed for another megachilid solitary bee, Osmia rufa, to amplify homologous microsatellite loci in M. apicalis. We amplified DNA of bees from native populations in Lesvos (Greece) and Uludag University (Republic of Turkey) by PCR and conducted fragment analysis on a CEQ 8000. The O. rufa primers amplified 2-5 alleles at the five loci studied in M. apicalis. About 12.3% of the samples did not amplify an amplicon at a locus, suggesting that species-specific primers may be needed. Genetic divergence between the two native samples (Lesvos and Uludag University) was greater than the genetic divergence between the invasive population and the two native populations. We conclude that five O. rufa microsatellite primer sets amplified homologous microsatellites in M. apicalis suitable for population genetic studies of this invasive species.