The draft genome sequence of the Japanese honey bee, Apis cerana japonica (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

• Published in: European journal of entomology Vol. 115; no. 1; pp. 650 - 657
• Main Authors: YOKOI, Kakeru, UCHIYAMA, Hironobu, WAKAMIYA, Takeshi, YOSHIYAMA, Mikio, TAKAHASHI, Jun-Ichi, NOMURA, Tetsuro, FURUKAWA, Tsutomu, YAJIMA, Shunsuke, KIMURA, Kiyoshi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ceske Budejovice Institute of Entomology 14.11.2018; Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Science
• Subjects: apidae; Apis cerana; apis cerana japonica; Apis mellifera; Bees; Consortia; Cultivated plants; DNA methylation; Genes; genome sequence; Genomes; Honey; hymenoptera; innate immune genes; Laboratories; Nucleotide sequence; Ontology; Pathogens; Peptides; Pollinators; Signal transduction; transposable elements; China
• ISSN: 1210-5759; 1802-8829
• DOI: 10.14411/eje.2018.064

Honey bees are not only important for honey production but also as pollinators of wild and cultivated plants. The Eastern honeybee (Apis cerana) is more resistant to several pathogens than the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera), and the genomes of two strains of the nominotypical subspecies, A. cerana cerana, northern (Korea) and southern (China) strains, have been sequenced. Apis cerana japónica, another subspecies of A. cerana, shows many specific features (e.g. mildness, low honey production and frequently absconds) and it is important to study the molecular biological and genetic aspects of these features. To accelerate the genetic research on A. cerana japónica, we sequenced the genome of this subspecies. The draft genome sequence of A. cerana japónica presented here is of high quality in terms of basic genome status (e.g. N50 is 180 kbp, total length is 211 Mbp, and largest contig length is 1.31 Mbp) and BUSCO results. The gene set of A. cerana japónica was predicted using AUGUSTUS software and the set of genes was annotated using Blastp and InterProScan, and GO terms were added to each gene. The number of genes is higher than in A. mellifera and in the two strains of A. cerana cerana sequenced previously. A small number of transposable elements and repetitive regions were found in A. cerana japónica, which are also in the genomes of A. mellifera and the northern and southern strains of A. cerana cerana. Apis cerana is resistant to several pathogens that seriously damage A. mellifera. We searched for 41 orthologs related to the IMD and Toll pathways, which have key roles in the immune reaction to invading pathogens. Some orthologs were not identi fi ed in the genome of the northern strain of A. cerana cerana. This indicates that the Toll and IMD pathways function in the same way as in A. mellifera and Drósóphila melanógaster. Use of the draft genome sequence of A. cerana japónica provided herein and those of the other Apis (sub)species may help to accelerate comparative research on the genome of honey bees.