By sequencing the genome of the yellow-banded bumblebee, York University researchers have found that inbreeding and disease are likely culprits in their rapid decline in North America.
This is believed to be the first time the genome of an at-risk bumblebee has been sequenced and it allows researchers to take a deeper look into the potential reason for their diminishing numbers. What they found surprised them.
“The yellow-banded bumblebee has been declining throughout much of its range in North America, but we don’t know why,” said York University Associate Professor Amro Zayed, research chair in genomics in the Faculty of Science. “We sequenced their genome so we can search for any clues of why the bumblebee is declining.”
Those clues show that bumblebees are inbreeding, and their immune genes are under selection, which points to disease as a likely cause of the stress.
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Image via York University.