The blind watchmaker: Evidence of selection in the genome of Puerto Rico bees after Hurricane Maria

Unpredictable disturbances are increasing in size and frequency at a global level.  In populations that are impacted, novel evolutionary trajectories may result due to reduced genetic variability and new population genetic composition or through selection on existing genetic variation.  Genetic drift may be the dominant impact on organisms that rely on large numbers of offspring where only a fraction may escape stressors.  Alternatively, stress due to climatic events may select for traits such as larger size or resource accumulation in organisms that produce fewer, “high-quality” offspring. Populations of social organisms are good models to detect the impact that both genetic drift and selection may exert on genetic traits.
 Honey bees on Puerto Rico, following the 20^th of September 2017 María hurricane, provide the ideal model to examine this storm’s impact and gather data to test hypotheses otherwise difficult to evaluate.  A benefit of using Puerto Rican honey bees is the availability of significant genomic data on this population.  In the few critical months following the Hurricane we have performed critical sampling, experiments, and collected data on the post-disturbance population.  These data enabled the testing of significant hypotheses on the evolution of the invasive Africanized Honey Bee (AHB) population and the gentle Africanized Honey Bee (gAHB), unique to Puerto Rico.    Specifically, we have tested whether the population-wide disturbance, in the form of hurricane María, has resulted in the selection of certain genotypes or random elimination of individual colonies.  This was accomplished through the use of population genomics and genetic measures.