Molecular Identification and Diversity of Yeasts Associated with Apis cerana Foraging on Jatropha integerrima

Abstract

There are only a few reports from tropical countries, and none from Indonesia, on yeasts associated with the asiatic honeybee, Apis cerana. Here we report on yeasts associated with A. cerana foraging on flowers of Jatropha integerima in the campus of the Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia. Yeast were isolated from guts of 30 individual pollen-colecting bees (PCH) and nectar-colecting bees (NCH), and identified by their internal transcribe spacer (ITS) regions of their rDNA sequences. Based on ITS regions sequences data, 14 representative yeast obtained from A. cerana were found to be closely related to Aurobasidium pullulans, Dathioracaea sp., Candida ef. azyma, C. cellaeMetschnikowia sp., Kodamea ohmeri and Yarnowia lipolityca.