MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE NATIVE SMALL CARPENTER BEES (CERATINA SPP.) OF NORTH WESTERN, INDIAN HIMALAYAS

Abstract

Bees are a wonderful creatures on earth; contributing to 73% of pollination services provided byall animals. Although the economic value of domesticated bees is calculated through several scientificmethods, but the actual value of wild bees in terms of economy, ecology and biodiversity are rarelyestimated due to lack of distinct taxonomic keys. Considering the above backdrops, we decided tomolecularly characterize three species of Ceratina native to Indian Himalayas. Three species were reportedas C. sutepensis, C. smaragdula and C. similima based on phylogenetic analysis and comparison with the NCBIdatabase. The COI sequence of C. similima was submitted to the NCBI database for the first time. Nucleotidefrequency analysis showed that partial COI gene sequences were A+T biased (>75%), while the amino acidfrequency analysis showed higher frequency of leucine (16.01%) and serine (11.77%). Multiple sequencealignment of COI sequences of three species illustrated the total variation in 117 SNP’s. Moreover, thepairwise genetic distance analysis reported that C. sutepensis and C.smaragdulawere genetically less distantwhen compared toC. similima. Suchkinds of studies are essential to analyze the biodiversity of location,distinguish cryptic species and develop distinct taxonomic tools for integrative taxonomy of bees.