Protein, isozymes and RAPD-PCR were conducted to assess the biochemical
and molecular characterization for three subspecies of honey bee worker, Apis
mellifera L. Low polymorphism percentages were recorded in different protein
patterns ranging from 18 to 42%. Eighteen, five and four unique bands distinguished
the Egyptian, the Italian and the Carniolan subspecies, respectively. The isozyme
systems recorded low polymorphism percentages, except peroxidase (67%). High
levels of polymorphism were observed in RAPD-PCR profiles. 28 unique bands were
identified out of 39 polymorphic ones; fourteen in the Egyptian subspecies, six in the
Italian subspecies and eight in the Carniolan subspecies. These unique bands were
considered as molecular markers for these subspecies. The dendrogram separated the
Egyptian subspecies from the other two subspecies with a highly genetic distance of
0.25. The Italian and Carniolan subspecies were grouped into one main cluster with a
genetic distance of 0.01 between them.