Historical specimens in museum collections provide opportunities to gain insights into the genomic past. For the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera L., this is particularly important because its populations are currently under threat worldwide and have experienced many changes in management and environment over the last century. Using Swiss Apis mellifera mellifera as a case study, our research provides important insights into the genetic diversity of native honey bees prior to the industrial-scale introductions and trade of non-native stocks during the 20th century—the onset of intensive commercial breeding and the decline of wild honey bees following the arrival of Varroa destructor. We sequenced whole-genomes of 22 honey bees from the Natural History Museum in Bern collected in Switzerland, including the oldest A. mellifera sample ever sequenced. We identify both, a historic and a recent migrant, natural or human-mediated, which corroborates with the population history of honey bees in Switzerland. Contrary to what we expected, we find no evidence for a significant genetic bottleneck in Swiss honey bees, and find that genetic diversity is not only maintained, but even slightly increased, most probably due to modern apicultural practices. Finally, we identify signals of selection between historic and modern honey bee populations associated with genes enriched in functions linked to xenobiotics, suggesting a possible selective pressure from the increasing use and diversity of chemicals used in agriculture and apiculture over the last century.

中文翻译：

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通过全基因组测序博物馆标本挖掘瑞士蜜蜂的基因组历史。

博物馆藏品中的历史标本提供了深入了解基因组过去的机会。对于西方蜜蜂Apis mellifera L.来说，这一点尤为重要，因为其种群目前在世界范围内受到威胁，并且在上个世纪经历了许多管理和环境的变化。以瑞士蜜蜂作为案例研究，我们的研究为 20 世纪非本地种群的工业规模引入和贸易之前本地蜜蜂的遗传多样性提供了重要的见解 - 集约化商业育种的开始和随着瓦罗瓦破坏者的到来，野生蜜蜂的减少. 我们对瑞士收集的伯尔尼自然历史博物馆的 22 只蜜蜂的全基因组进行了测序，其中包括最古老的A. mellifera曾经测序过的样本。我们确定了历史和最近的自然或人类介导的移民，这与瑞士蜜蜂的种群历史相吻合。与我们的预期相反，我们没有发现瑞士蜜蜂存在重大遗传瓶颈的证据，并且发现遗传多样性不仅得以维持，甚至略有增加，这很可能是由于现代养蜂实践。最后，我们确定了历史和现代蜜蜂种群之间的选择信号，这些蜜蜂种群与富含异生素相关功能的基因相关，这表明上个世纪农业和养蜂业中使用的化学品的使用和多样性的增加可能带来了选择压力。