An optimized protocol for cytogenetics in stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini).
- 1Laboratory of Molecular Entomology, Department of Biological Sciences, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Jequié, Bahia, Brazil Laboratory of Molecular Entomology, Department of Biological Sciences, Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia Jequié, Bahia Brazil.
Abstract
Cytogenetic studies in stingless bees date back to 1948 and have been useful to discriminate cryptic species and to infer the karyotype evolution in this diverse group of insects. However, a limitation of existing chromosome preparation protocols for bees is the lack of a cell suspension that can be stored for subsequent chromosome preparations. Therefore, the goal of this novel protocol was to obtain a suspension of dividing cells for each specimen allowing the analysis of an increased number of metaphase spreads per sample. This procedure was successfully applied to six species of Meliponini (Melipona marginata Lepeletier, 1836, M. mondury Smith, 1863, M. scutellaris Latreille, 1811, Frieseomelitta flavicornis Fabricius, 1798 (black morph), Scaptotrigona sp., and Tetragonisca angustula Latreille, 1811), with the potential to yield up to six slides containing well-spread metaphase chromosomes per larva. Thus, this protocol may optimize the use of collected larvae by providing cell suspensions that can be stored for subsequent cytogenetic analyses and potentially adapted for other hymenopterans.
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BibTeX
@article{nascimento2026optimized,
title = {{An optimized protocol for cytogenetics in stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini).}},
author = {Weslei Santos Nascimento and Beatriz Mafra Louzada and Júlia Alves Britto Peixoto and Ana Maria Waldschmidt},
journal = {Comparative cytogenetics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3897/compcytogen.20.218686},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999815},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - An optimized protocol for cytogenetics in stingless bees (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini).
AU - Weslei Santos Nascimento
AU - Beatriz Mafra Louzada
AU - Júlia Alves Britto Peixoto
AU - Ana Maria Waldschmidt
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Comparative cytogenetics
DO - 10.3897/compcytogen.20.218686
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42999815
AB - Cytogenetic studies in stingless bees date back to 1948 and have been useful to discriminate cryptic species and to infer the karyotype evolution in this diverse group of insects. However, a limitation of existing chromosome preparation protocols for bees is the lack of a cell suspension that can be stored for subsequent chromosome preparations. Therefore, the goal of this novel protocol was to obtain a suspension of dividing cells for each specimen allowing the analysis of an increased number of metaphase spreads per sample. This procedure was successfully applied to six species of Meliponini (Melipona marginata Lepeletier, 1836, M. mondury Smith, 1863, M. scutellaris Latreille, 1811, Frieseomelitta flavicornis Fabricius, 1798 (black morph), Scaptotrigona sp., and Tetragonisca angustula Latreille, 1811), with the potential to yield up to six slides containing well-spread metaphase chromosomes per larva. Thus, this protocol may optimize the use of collected larvae by providing cell suspensions that can be stored for subsequent cytogenetic analyses and potentially adapted for other hymenopterans.
SN - 1993-0771
SN - 1993-078X
ER -