Valor cultural de las abejas sin aguijón en América Tropical

Quezada-Euán JJG; Nates-Parra G; Maués MM; Imperatriz-Fonseca VL; Roubik DW (2018) The economic and cultural values of stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) among ethnic groups of tropical America. Sociobiology 65: 534-557.

 Abstract- Stingless honey bees — commonly known as stingless bees — have long provided food and materials to the inhabitants of tropical America. We conducted a literature search to codify available information, including non-peer reviewed ‘grey literature’, on the purported value of stingless bees to indigenous people. Among > 400 species of Neotropical stingless bees several are widely used in beekeeping. Varied cultural and economic values are associated with their use, and in some cases husbandry, as a consequence of ongoing contact between people and these social insects. Adapting new species to husbandry is being attempted in many countries. The bees remain culturally important, and beliefs associated with them are significant for different groups, beyond utilization as commodities. We find values in food, craft, religion and medicine, with cultural values ranging from utilitarian to mythological. Values transmitted across generations allow cohesion and communal identity of native organisms associated with any indigenous society. Such cultural values seem in danger of extinction, primarily due to external factors. We provide examples of successful regional strategies in averting cultural and economic loss in natural human heritage, in this case bees that provide honey and other benefits. Preserving stingless bees and the cultural heritage around them provides a good example of sustainable use of native species in human communities. Bees are important agents for conservation of the environment.

 

Expresión de genes en Euglossa de Yucatán
 Boff S, Friedel A, Miertsch A, Quezada-Euàn JJG, Paxton RJ, Lattorff HMG (2018) A scientifc note on validation of housekeeping genes for the primitively eusocial bee Euglossa viridissima Friese (Apidae: Euglossini). Sociobiology 65: 766-769.
Abstract- Studies on the expression of genes in different contexts are essential to our understanding of the functioning of organisms and their adaptations to the environment. Gene expression studies require steps of normalization, which are done using the stable expression pattern of reference genes. For many different eusocial bees reference genes have been discovered, but not for the primitively eusocial Euglossini bees. We used available genomic resources of Euglossini species and the gene information of Apis mellifera Linnaeus to develop a set of reference genes for the primitive eusocial bee Euglossa viridissima Friese. We tested nine genes, in distinct developmental stages, using three different algorithms, to infer stability of gene expression. The TATA-binding protein (TBP) and 14-3-3 epsilon were the most stable genes across all developmental stages. The strongest deviation in gene expression pattern occurred in pupae, which require a different set of genes for normalizing gene expression.