First Draft Genome Assembly of the Malaysian Stingless Bee, Heterotrigona itama (Apidae, Meliponinae)

Chien-Yeong Wee, Amin-Asyraf Tamizi, Nazrul-Hisham Nazaruddin, Siuk-Mun Ng, Jia-Shiun Khoo and Rosliza Jajuli
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Chien-Yeong Wee: Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Amin-Asyraf Tamizi: Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Nazrul-Hisham Nazaruddin: Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Research Centre, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia
Siuk-Mun Ng: Codon Genomics S/B, Jalan Dutamas 7, Taman Dutamas Balakong, Seri Kembangan 43200, Selangor, Malaysia
Jia-Shiun Khoo: Codon Genomics S/B, Jalan Dutamas 7, Taman Dutamas Balakong, Seri Kembangan 43200, Selangor, Malaysia
Rosliza Jajuli: Agrobiodiversity and Environmental Research Centre, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia

Data, 2020, vol. 5, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: The Malaysian stingless bee industry is hugely dependent on wild colonies. Nevertheless, the availability of new queens to establish new colonies is insufficient to meet the growing demand for hives in the industry. Heterotrigona itama is primarily utilized for honey production in the region and the major source of stingless bee colonies comes from the wild. To propagate new colonies domestically, a fundamental understanding of the biology of queen development, especially from the genomics aspect, is necessary. The whole genome was sequenced using a paired-end 150 strategy on the Illumina HiSeq X platform. The shotgun sequencing generated approximately 89 million raw pair-end reads with a total output of 13.37 Gb and a GC content of 37.31%. The genome size of the species was estimated to be approximately 272 Mb. Phylogenetic analysis showed H. itama are much more closely related to the bumble bee ( Bombus spp.) than they are to the modern honey bee ( Apis spp.). The genome data provided here are expected to contribute to a better understanding of the genetic aspect of queen differentiation as well as of important molecular pathways which are crucial for stingless bee biology, management and conservation.

Keywords: eusocial insect; genomics; Illumina sequencing; pollinator; queen differentiation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C8 C80 C81 C82 C83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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