Rapid evolution via genetic novelty in an invasive social insect

该项目旨在确定澳大利亚和太平洋地区引进的亚洲蜜蜂种群如何克服严重的遗传瓶颈成为入侵性害虫。该项目将使用先进的分子技术来了解决定这些种群适应性的焦点基因的快速进化，并使用12年时间轴的样本来观察整个基因组的进化。其结果将是通过更好地了解入侵如何建立和传播，提高管理各种入侵性社会昆虫新爆发的能力。这将以保护澳大利亚农业和授粉服务免受社会虫害的形式提供重大利益。

This project aims to determine how introduced Asian honey bee populations in Australia and the Pacific managed to overcome severe genetic bottlenecks to become invasive pests. The project will use advanced molecular techniques to understand rapid evolution at a focal gene that determines fitness in these populations, and to see evolution in action across the genome using a twelve-year timeline of samples. The outcome will be an enhanced capacity to manage new outbreaks of invasive social insects of all kinds via a better understanding of how invasions establish and spread. This should provide significant benefits in the form of protecting Australian agriculture and pollination services from social insect pests.