The genetic composition of the honeybee populations of the Macaronesian archipelago of the Azores is poorly known. Until now, only honeybee populations of the island of São Miguel have been surveyed for genetic variation through the use of the tRNAleu-cox2 intergenic mitochondrial DNA region and microsatellites. Here, we combine data from the mtDNA obtained with the DraI test (intergenic region) and from the nuclear DNA obtained with newly developed reduced SNP assays to provide a complete picture of introgression patterns in the Azorean honeybee populations at both mitochondrial and nuclear compartments. The sampling was carried out in 2014 and 2015 and comprised 474 colonies widely distributed across the 8 islands populated by honeybees. Our cyto-nuclear results show that C-derived introgression varies across the archipelago ranging from virtually pure populations of the Iberian honeybee in the island of Santa Maria (Q-values 30%). The introgression levels are alarming and contrast with those of the Iberian honeybee populations of the mainland in Iberia, which are still virtually free of C-derived introgression, despite frequent importation of commercial queens.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
