Honey bee abdominal pigmentation is one of the most recognisable traits and it is often used by beekeepers as an indicator of M-lineage subspecies purity. However, this approach may negatively impact population diversity and is futile if there is no association between tergite colour patterns and the genetic background. To assess whether this trait can be used as a proxy for introgression proportions in M-lineage subspecies, we genotyped, with highly informative SNP assays, A. m. mellifera and A. m. iberiensis individuals displaying four different colour phenotypes. The SNP data detected highly introgressed bees exhibiting a black phenotype and, at the same time, pure or marginally introgressed bees with yellow banding patterns, in both subspecies. Despite these observations, contrary to A. m. iberiensis , in A. m. mellifera , introgression proportions revealed to be a significant predictor of abdominal pigmentation. Therefore, abdominal pigmentation could be used by A. m. mellifera conservationists to guide colony selection when genetic tools are unavailable.

中文翻译：

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可以通过腹部颜色模式检测 M 谱系蜜蜂的基因渗入吗？

蜜蜂腹部色素沉着是最容易识别的特征之一，养蜂人经常将其用作 M 谱系亚种纯度的指标。然而，这种方法可能会对种群多样性产生负面影响，并且如果 tergite 颜色模式与遗传背景之间没有关联，则是徒劳的。为了评估这种性状是否可以用作 M 谱系亚种中基因渗入比例的代表，我们使用信息量丰富的 SNP 检测进行基因分型，A. m. mellifera 和 A. m. iberiensis 个体显示四种不同的颜色表型。SNP 数据在两个亚种中都检测到表现出黑色表型的高度渗入的蜜蜂，同时检测到具有黄色条带图案的纯或边缘渗入的蜜蜂。尽管有这些观察，与 A. m. iberiensis , 在 A. m. 蜜蜂花 基因渗入比例显示是腹部色素沉着的重要预测因素。因此，A. m. 可以使用腹部色素沉着。mellifera 保护主义者在遗传工具不可用时指导菌落选择。