Description
Dissecting genome-wide (expansions, contractions, admixture) from genome-specific effects
(selection) is a goal of central importance in evolutionary biology because it leads to more
robust inferences of demographic history and to identification of adaptive divergence. The
publication of the honey bee genome and the development of high-density SNPs genotyping,
provide us with powerful tools, allowing us to identify signatures of selection in the honey bee
genome. These signatures will be an important first step towards understanding the transition
of genotype into phenotype and the basis of adaptive divergence. The Iberian Peninsula
harbours the greatest honey bee genetic diversity and complexity in Europe. The challenge
of deciphering the mechanisms underlying such complexity has led to numerous
morphological and molecular marker-based surveys of the Iberian honey bee. Yet, in spite of
the numerous studies, the evolutionary processes underlying patterns of Iberian honey bee
genetic diversity remain poorly understood. The evolutionary process in the Iberian
Peninsula has been dynamic and the genetic consequences are too complex to be
addressed piecemeal, using few markers with unknown or poorly known linkage
relationships. Accordingly, in 2010 more than 650 honey bee colonies were sampled across
latitudinal and longitudinal clines in the Iberian Peninsula. The 650 honey bee samples were
genotyped for 1536 SNPs – all equally distributed across the honey bee genome and all with
known linkage relationships, based on the latest honey bee genome assembly. Herein we
show the preliminary results of this genotyping, focusing on an Iberian honey bee genome
inquiry on recent selective sweeps. We provide new insights into the evolutionary processes
shaping the Iberian honey bee patterns.
; Johnston, J. Spencer 
