A core linkage map of the bumblebeeBombus terrestris

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Abstract
The bumblebee Bombus terrestris is an economically important pollinator and an emerging model species in quantitative and population genetics. We generated genetic linkage maps for 3 independent mapping populations of B. terrestris. The linkage map with the highest resolution had 21 linkage groups, which adequately represents the haploid chromosome number of B. terrestris (n = 18). This map can be considered saturated, with an average marker distance of 10.3 cM and an estimated genome coverage of 81%. Using flow cytometry, we have estimated the genome size of this species to be 625 Mb. With an estimated total recombination genome length of 2760 cM, this results in a ratio of 226 kb/cM between the physical and genetic genome sizes. A recurring set of microsatellites and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers allowed the alignment of 14 linkage groups between the 3 maps. We propose to adopt this core map as a reference tool for future genetic and molecular work in B. terrestris.