Percorrer por autor "Charistos, Leonidas"
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- An unprecedented large-scale survey of honey bee mitochondrial diversity in Europe: c-lineage dominance and the need for conservation effortsPublication . Li, Fernanda; Costa, Maíra; Lopes, Ana Rita; Gonçalves, Telma; Henriques, Dora; Quaresma, Andreia; Yadró Garcia, Carlos A.; Albo, Alexandre; Blažytė-Čereškienė, Laima; Brodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Carreck, Norman L.; Charistos, Leonidas; Chlebo, Robert; Coffey, Mary F.; Dahle, Bjørn; Danneels, Ellen; Dobrescu, Constantin; Dupleix-Marchal, Anna; Filipi, Janja; Gajda, Anna; Gratzer, Kristina; Groeneveld, Linn Fenna; Hatjina, Fani; Johannesen, Jes; Kolasa, Michal; Körmendy-Rácz, János; Kovačić, Marin; Kristiansen, Preben; Martikkala, Maritta; McCormack, Grace P.; Martín-Hernández, Raquel; Pavlov, Borce; Pietropaoli, Marco; Poirot, Benjamin; Radev, Zheko; Raudmets, Aivar; René-Douarre, Vincent; Roessink, Ivo; Škerl, Maja Ivana Smodiš; Soland-Reckeweg, Gabriele; Titera, Dalibor; Steen, Jozef van der; Varnava, Andri; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Webster, Matthew T.; Fedoriak, Mariia M.; Zarochentseva, Oksana; Graaf, Dirk C.; Pinto, M. AliceEurope is home to ten Apis mellifera subspecies, which belong to three mitochondrial lineages: the Western European (M), Eastern European (C), and African (A). However, the long-standing human-mediated movement of queens, primarily of C-lineage ancestry, has threatened the genetic integrity of many of these native subspecies through introgression and replacement. This has led to the establishment of conservation programs to recover the native lines in some European countries. The maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), particularly the highly polymorphic intergenic region tRNAleu-cox2, has been the marker of choice for assessing honey bee variation and introgression at large geographical scales. Herein, we will show the results of the tRNAleu-cox2 variation obtained from over 1200 colonies sampled across the range of the ten subspecies and covering 33 European countries. These revealed that apart from a few countries (Portugal, Spain, and Ireland) and isolated protected populations, European populations are predominantly dominated by C-lineage haplotypes, and many native subspecies exhibit a signature of C-derived introgression. In conclusion, this unprecedented survey of honey bee diversity across Europe underscores the concerning dominance of C-lineage genetic variation, highlighting the urgent need for strategic conservation efforts to preserve the native genetic diversity of Apis mellifera.
- Bio-Monitoring of environmental pollution using the citizen science approachPublication . Steen, Jozef van der; Amaral, Joana S.; Baveco, Hans; Blanco Muñoz, Patricia; Brodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Buddendorf, Bas; Carreck, Norman L.; Danneels, Ellen; Charistos, Leonidas; Graaf, Dirk C.; Díaz Galiano, Francisco José; Fernandez-Alba, Amadeo; Ferrer-Amate, Carmen; Formato, Giovanni; Gómez Ramos, María José; Gratzer, Kristina; Gray, Alison; Hatjina, Fani; Henriques, Dora; Kasiotis, Konstantinos; Kilpinen, Ole; Lopes, Ana; Martínez Bueno, María Jesús; Murcia-Morales, María; Pietropaoli, Marco; Pinto, M. Alice; Quaresma, Andreia; Rufino, José; Roessink, Ivo; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Zafeiraki, EffrosyniHoneybee colonies are excellent bio-samplers of biological material such as nectar, pollen, and plant pathogens, as well as non-biological material such as pesticides or airborne contamination. The INSIGNIA-EU project aims to design and test an innovative, non-invasive, scientifically proven citizen science environmental monitoring protocol for the detection of pesticides, microplastics, heavy metals, and air pollutants by honey bee colonies http://insignia-eu.eu. In the pilot INSIGNIA project (2018-2021), a protocol was developed and tested for citizen-science-based monitoring of pesticides using honeybees. As part of the project, biweekly pollen was obtained from sentinel apiaries over a range of European countries and landscapes and analysed for botanical origin, using state-of-theart molecular techniques such as metabarcoding. An innovative non-biological matrix, the “APIStrip”, was also proved to be very efficient for detecting the residues of 273 agricultural pesticides and veterinary products, both authorized and unauthorized. The data collected are used to develop and test a spatial modelling system aimed at predicting the spatiallyexplicit environmental fate of pesticides and honeybee landscape-scale pollen foraging, with a common underlying geo-database containing European land-use and land-cover data (CORINE), the LUCAS database (landcover) supplemented with national data sets on agricultural and (semi-) natural habitats. After a call by the European Commission, a new 2 years project was granted aiming to present a comprehensive pan-European environmental pollution monitoring study with honey bees. Although pesticides used in agriculture, are a known hazard due to their biological activity, other pollutants, have even been recognized as such, for which we have not been aware of their impact for many years. An example is air pollution which increased while our societies industrialized and is currently regarded as the single largest environmental health risk in Europe (https://www.eea.europa.eu/). Unfortunately, other pollutants such as heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, airborne particulate matter, and microplastics have also reached our environment. The outcome of this project will provide the first standardized EU-wide monitoring of all types of environmental pollutants with honey bee colonies. The project is funded by the EU, under the N° 09.200200/2021/864096/SER/ ENV.D.2 contract.
- Deciphering the variation in cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of six European honey bee subspeciesPublication . Rodríguez-León, Daniel Sebastián; Uzunov, Aleksandar; Costa, Cecilia; Elen, Dylan; Charistos, Leonidas; Galea, Thomas; Gabel, Martin; Scheiner, Ricarda; Pinto, M. Alice; Schmitt, ThomasThe Western honey bee (Apis mellifera) subspecies exhibit local adaptive traits that evolved in response to the different environments that characterize their native distribution ranges. An important trait is the cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profile, which helps to prevent desiccation and mediate communication. We compared the CHC profiles of six European subspecies (A. m. mellifera, A. m. carnica, A. m. ligustica, A. m. macedonica, A. m. iberiensis, and A. m. ruttneri) and investigated potential factors shaping their composition. We did not find evidence of adaptation of the CHC profiles of the subspecies to the climatic conditions in their distribution range. Subspecies-specific differences in CHC composition might be explained by phylogenetic constraints or genetic drift. The CHC profiles of foragers were more subspecies-specific than those of nurse bees, while the latter showed more variation in their CHC profiles, likely due to the lower desiccation stress exerted by the controlled environment inside the hive. The strongest profile differences appeared between nurse bees and foragers among all subspecies, suggesting an adaptation to social task and a role in communication. Foragers also showed an increase in the relative amount of alkanes in their profiles compared to nurses, indicating adaptation to climatic conditions.
- Honey bee (Apis mellifera) wing images: a tool for identification and conservationPublication . Oleksa, Andrzej; Cauia, Eliza; Siceanu, Adrian; Puskadija, Zlatko; Kovačić, Marin; Pinto, M. Alice; Rodrigues, Pedro J.; Hatjina, Fani; Charistos, Leonidas; Bouga, Maria; Presern, Janez; Kandemir, Irfan; Rasic, Sladan; Kusza, Szilvia; Tofilski, AdamThe honey bee (Apis mellifera) is an ecologically and economically important species that provides pollination services to natural and agricultural systems. The biodiversity of the honey bee in parts of its native range is endangered by migratory beekeeping and commercial breeding. In consequence, some honey bee populations that are well adapted to the local environment are threatened with extinction. A crucial step for the protection of honey bee biodiversity is reliable differentiation between native and nonnative bees. One of the methods that can be used for this is the geometric morphometrics of wings. This method is fast, is low cost, and does not require expensive equipment. Therefore, it can be easily used by both scientists and beekeepers. However, wing geometric morphometrics is challenging due to the lack of reference data that can be reliably used for comparisons between different geographic regions. Here, we provide an unprecedented collection of 26,481 honey bee wing images representing 1,725 samples from 13 European countries. The wing images are accompanied by the coordinates of 19 landmarks and the geographic coordinates of the sampling locations. We present an R script that describes the workflow for analyzing the data and identifying an unknown sample. We compared the data with available reference samples for lineage and found general agreement with them. The extensive collection of wing images available on the Zenodo website can be used to identify the geographic origin of unknown samples and therefore assist in the monitoring and conservation of honey bee biodiversity in Europe.
- INSIGNIA: um projeto de monitorização ambiental de pesticidas através da utilização da abelha melliferaPublication . Pinto, M. Alice; Amaral, Joana S.; Baveco, Hans; Biron, David G.; Brodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Carreck, Norman L.; Charistos, Leonidas; Coffey, Mary F.; Fernandez-Alba, Amadeo; Formato, Giovanni; Graaf, Dirk C.; Gratzer, Kristina; Gray, Alison; Hatjina, Fani; Kasiotis, Konstantinos; Kilpinen, Ole; Pietropaoli, Marco; Roessink, Ivo; Rufino, José; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Steen, Jozef van derINSIGNIA ("cItizeN Science InvestiGatioN for pestIcIcides in Apicultutarl products"; https://www.insignia-bee,eu/) é um projecto financiado pela agência "Directorate General for Health and Food Safety" da Comissão Europeia, e que teve início em Outubro de 2018. O consórcio INSIGNIA é coordenado por Jozef van der Steen e integra 16 instituições parceiras de 12 países Europeus, entre as quais está o Centro de Investigação e Montanha (CIMO) do Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB).
- Introducing the INSIGNIA project: environmental monitoring of pesticide use through honey beesPublication . Steen, Jozef van der; Brodschneider, Robert; Gratzer, Kristina; Bieszczad, Sarah; Hatjina, Fani; Charistos, Leonidas; Carreck, Norman L.; Gray, Alison; Pinto, M.Alice; Amaral, Joana S.; Rufino, José; Quaresma, Andreia; Roessink, Ivo; Baveco, Hans; Formato, Giovanni; Pietropaoli, Marco; Kasiotis, Konstantinos; Anagnostopoulos, Christ; Zafeiraki, Effrosyni; Fernandez-Alba, Amadeo; Eulderink, Caroline; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Kilpinen, Ole; Coffey, Mary F.; Biron, David G.; Brusbardis, Valters; Graaf, Dirk C.INSIGNIA aims to design and test an innovative, non-invasive, scientifically proven citizen science environmental monitoring protocol for the detection of pesticides by honey bees. It is a 30-month pilot project initiated and financed by the EC (PP-1-1-2018; EC SANTE). The study is being carried out by a consortium of specialists in honey bees, apiculture, statistics, analytics, modelling, extension, social science and citizen science from twelve countries. Honey bee colonies are excellent bio-samplers of biological material such as nectar, pollen and plant pathogens, as well as non-biological material such as pesticides or airborne contamination. Honey bee colonies forage over a circle of 1 km radius, increasing to several km if required, depending on the availability and attractiveness of food. All material collected is accumulated in the hive.
- Introducing the INSIGNIA project: Environmental monitoring of pesticides use through honey beesPublication . Carreck, Norman L.; Amaral, Joana S.; Anagnostopoulos, Christ; Baveco, Hans; Bieszczad, Sarah; Biron, David G.; Brodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Charistos, Leonidas; Coffey, Mary F.; Eulderink, Caroline; Fernández-Alba, A.R.; Formato, Giovanni; Graaf, Dirk C.; Gratzer, Kristina; Gray, Alison; Hatjina, Fani; Kasiotis, Konstantinos; Kilpinen, Ole; Murcia-Morales, Maria; Pietropaoli, Marco; Pinto, M. Alice; Quaresma, Andreia; Roessink, Ivo; Rufino, José; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Zafeiraki, Effrosyni; Van der Steen, J.INSIGNIA aims to design and test an innovative, non-invasive, scientifically proven citizen science environmental monitoring protocol for the detection of pesticides via honey bees. It is a pilot project initiated and financed by the European Commission (PP-1-1-2018; EC SANTE). The study is being carried out by a consortium of specialists in honey bees, apiculture, chemistry, molecular biology, statistics, analytics, modelling, extension, social science and citizen science from twelve countries. Honey bee colonies are excellent bio-samplers of biological material such as nectar, pollen and plant pathogens, as well as non-biological material such as pesticides or airborne contamination. Honey bee colonies forage over a circle of about 1 km radius, increasing to several km if required depending on the availability and attractiveness of food. All material collected is concentrated in the hive, and the honey bee colony can provide four main matrices for environmental monitoring: bees, honey, pollen and wax. For pesticides, pollen and wax are the focal matrices. Pollen collected in pollen traps will be sampled every two weeks to record foraging conditions. During the season, most of pollen is consumed within days, so beebread can provide recent, random sampling results. On the other hand wax acts as a passive sampler, building up an archive of pesticides that have entered the hive. Alternative in-hive passive samplers will be tested to replicate wax as a “pesticide-sponge”. Samples will be analysed for the presence of pesticides and the botanical origin of the pollen using an ITS2 DNA metabarcoding approach. Data on pollen and pesticides will be then be combined to obtain information on foraging conditions and pesticide use, together with evaluation of the CORINE database for land use and pesticide legislation to model the exposure risks to honey bees and wild bees. All monitoring steps from sampling through to analysis will be studied and tested in four countries in year 1, and the best practices will then be ring-tested in nine countries in year 2. Information about the course of the project and its results and publications will be available in the INSIGNIA website www.insignia-bee.eu.
- Large Scale Mitochondrial Evidence of C-lineage Dominance in European Honey BeesPublication . Li, Fernanda; Lopes, Ana; Costa, Maíra; Henriques, Dora; Quaresma, Andreia; Yadró García, Carlos A.; Albo, Alexandre; Čereškienė, Laima Blažytė; Brodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Carreck, Norman L.; Charistos, Leonidas; Chlebo, Robert; Coffey, Mary F.; Dahle, Bjørn; Danneels, Ellen; Dobrescu, Constantin; Dupleix-Marchal, Anna; Filipi, Janja; Gajda, Anna; Gratzer, Kristina; Groeneveld, Linn Fenna; Hatjina, Fani; Johannesen, Jes; Kolasa, Michal; Körmendy-Rácz, János; Kovačić, Marin; Kristiansen, Preben; Martikkala, Maritta; McCormack, Grace P.; Martín-Hernández, Raquel; Pavlov, Borce; Poirot, Benjamin; Pietropaoli, Marco; Radev, Zheko; Raudmets, Aivar; René-Douarre, Vincent; Roessink, Ivo; Škerl, Maja Ivana Smodiš; Soland, Gabriele; Titera, Dalibor; Steen, Jozef van der; Varnava, Andri; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Fedoriak, Mariia M.; Zarochentseva, Oksana; Webster, Matthew T.; Graaf, Dirk C.; Pinto, M. AliceIn Europe, distribution of the several endemic honey bee (Apis mellifera) subspecies has suffered a considerable shift in the last century. In particular, beekeepers tend to favour subspecies of Eastern European ancestry (C-lineage), such as the Italian honey bee (A. m. ligustica), due to their perceived docility and high honey production. As a result, large scale migratory beekeeping and trade of C-lineage queens have exposed the native European honey bees to introgression and replacement, jeopardizing their genetic integrity and locally adapted traits. The maternally-inherited and highly polymorphic mitochondrial intergenic region tRNAleu-cox2 is routinely used for the assessment of honey bee diversity and introgression at large geographical scales. In this study, we conducted a survey on tRNAleu-cox2 variation in more than 1300 colonies from 33 European countries to assess current status of mitochondrial diversity patterns in Europe. Total genomic DNA was extracted from the bee thorax followed by PCR amplification of the tRNAleu-cox2 region and sequencing. The haplotypes were identified using alignments in MEGA 11. A clear dominance of C-lineage haplotypes was found (65%). The most prevalent C-lineage haplotype was C2 (54%) followed by C3 (23%) and C1(22%). Contrary to this trend, in Portugal, Spain and Ireland, less than 10% of the colonies exhibit the C-haplotype. Furthermore, the analysed apiaries in isolated protected areas (n=7) revealed a high proportion of colonies of western European (M-lineage) ancestry (80%) with M4 as the most frequent haplotype. African haplotypes (A lineage) were also found, albeit at lower frequencies, and were mainly concentrated in the Iberian Peninsula (9%). Intensive queen breeding and migratory beekeeping is homogenizing the gene pool of European bee populations. This survey of honey bee maternal diversity across Europe highlights the alarming dominance of C-lineage haplotypes and underscores the importance of conservation apiaries, as they have effectively preserved the autochthonous M-lineage subspecies in different countries. This work was conducted in the framework of the project Better-B, funded by the European Union, the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation, and UK Research and Innovation under the UK government's Horizon Europe funding guarantee (grant number 10068544).
- Maternal origin of honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies from across EuropePublication . Lopes, Ana; Costa, Maíra; Tounakti, Sahar; Henriques, Dora; Quaresma, Andreia; Yadró Garcia, Carlos A.; Albo, Alexandre; Blažytė-Čereškienė, Laima; Broodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Carreck, Norman L.; Charistos, Leonidas; Chlebo, Robert; Coffey, Mary F.; Danneels, Ellen; Dobrescu, Constantin; Filipi, Janja; Gajda, Anna; Galea, Thomas; Gratzer, Kristina; Hatjina, Fani; Johannesen, Jes; Körmendy-Rácz, János; Kovačić, Marin; Preben, Kristiansen; Martikkala, Maritta; Martín-Hernández, Raquel; Pietropaoli, Marco; Poirot, Benjamin; Radev, Zheko; Raudmets, Aivar; Douarre, Vincent; Rodriguez-Flores, Maria Shantal; Roessink, Ivo; Ivana, Maja; Škerl, Maja Ivana Smodiš; Titera, Dalibor; Steen, Jozef van der; Varnava, Andri; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Webster, Matthew T.; Graaf, Dirk C.; Pinto, M. AliceWorldwide commercial beekeeping poses a threat to the native origin of the honeybee (Apis mellifera), with beekeepers favouring subspecies of Eastern European C-lineage ancestry, due to their docile behaviour and high honey production traits. In many parts of western and northern Europe, queens of Western European M-lineage ancestry have been massively replaced by queens of C-lineage ancestry, and this has led to the development of conservation programs aiming at recovering native lines. The maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), particularly the intergenic region tRNAleu-cox2, has been the marker of choice for assessing honey bee variation at large geographical scales. Herein, we will show the results of the mtDNA analysis of over 850 colonies collected across 28 European countries. These samples were subjected to DNA extraction, followed by PCR, and Sanger sequencing. The analysis of the sequences was conducted in Mega 11. The results indicated that, apart from Portugal, Spain, and the conservation centres in France and Denmark, where the colonies exhibited African or M haplotypes, the remaining countries are dominated by colonies of C-lineage maternal ancestry. In conclusion, this unprecedented mtDNA analysis conducted across Europe underscores the worrying dominance of C-lineage genetic variation, highlighting the urgent need for strategic conservation efforts to preserve the native genetic diversity of Apis mellifera.
- Wing geometric morphometrics of european honey bee populationsPublication . Costa, Maíra; Gonçalves, Telma; Lopes, Ana; Vitrio, Nathalia; Albo, Alexandre; Blažytė-Čereškienė, Laima; Brodschneider, Robert; Brusbardis, Valters; Carreck, Norman L.; Charistos, Leonidas; Chlebo, Robert; Coffey, Mary F.; Danneels, Ellen; Graaf, Dirk C.; Dobrescu, Constantin; Filipi, Janja; Gajda, Anna; Gratzer, Kristina; Hatjina, Fani; Johannesen, Jes; Körmendy-Rácz, János; Kovačić, Marin; Kristiansen, Preben; Martikkala, Maritta; Martín-Hernández, Raquel; Pietropaoli, Marco; Poirot, Benjamin; Radev, Zheko; Raudmets, Aivar; Douarre, Vincent; Roessink, Ivo; Škerl, Maja Ivana Smodiš; Titera, Dalibor; Steen, Jozef van der; Varnava, Andri; Vejsnæs, Flemming; Webster, Matthew T.; Rodrigues, Pedro João; Henriques, Dora; Pinto, M. AliceWing venation patterns have long been used to identify honey bee subspecies, singly or in combination with other morphological traits, using different approaches. Beekeepers have traditionally used identification methods that only require estimations of the Cubital Index, Hantel Index, and/or Discoidal Shift Angle. However, these measures do not consider all the information carried by wing patterns, and a more accurate approach is geometric morphometrics, which requires the annotation of 19 landmarks in the forewing vein junctions. While manual wing annotation is a time-consuming and error-prone endeavour, the recently developed software DeepWings© performs this task automatically, allowing a fast and relatively accurate identification of European honey bee subspecies, and is appropriate for large-scale projects. In this study, we analyse the patterns of forewings extracted from over 850 colonies sampled across 29 European countries. To that end, the right forewings of five workers per colony are photographed with a digital camera attached to a stereomicroscope. The images are then analysed using DeepWings©. Our main objective is to assess (i) how closely the colonies identified by DeepWings© match the endemic evolutionary lineages and subspecies; and (ii) the association between the identification produced by DeepWings© and that inferred from mitochondrial DNA. While geometric morphometrics does not replace molecular tools for the identification of colonies, it can provide a preliminary estimation of their genetic integrity.