Discordance between Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Genes Suggests the Possibility of Hybridization of Indian and Southeast Asian Types of Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Oecophylla smaragdina is distributed from India, SE Asia and Australia including many tropical Islands. A recent phylogenetic study based on mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals that Bangladesh is the overlapping zone of both Indian and Southeast Asian type of O. smaragdina. These two different lineages of Indian and SE Asian type have the opportunities of creating the zone of contacts, but no such data was found. In this study, shed light was given to reveal the chance of hybridized colony of O. smaragdina in Bangladesh. Methods: To asses the hybridization scenario, 28 O. smaragdina colony from 27 localities in Bangladesh were analyzed using Longwave length Rhodopsin (LWRh) nuclear gene sequences and was compared with the mtDNA sequences, which was collected from the same localities and deposited into NCBI GenBank. Results: The inconsistency between mitochondrial and nuclear gene types was observed from two colonies of the overlapped zone of contact. These two colonies were identified as SE Asian type by mtDNA analysis however, by nuclear DNA analysis; it was identified as Indian type. These significant discrepancies within the colony suggested the possibility of hybridization of weaver ant in Bangladesh.