Analysis of the complete genome sequence and capsid region of black queen cell viruses from infected honeybees (Apis mellifera) in Korea

Abstract

Black queen cell virus (BQCV) infection is one of the most common viral infections in honeybees (Apis mellifera). A phylogenetic tree was constructed for 19 partial nucleotide sequences for the capsid region of South Korean BQCV, which were also compared with 10 previously reported BQCV sequences derived from different countries. The Korean BQCV genomes were highly conserved and showed 97-100% identity. They also showed 92-99% similarity with other country genotypes and showed no significant clustering in the phylogenetic tree. In order to investigate this phenomenon in more detail, the complete genome sequence of the Korean BQCV strain was determined and aligned with those from a South African reference strain and European genotypes, Poland4-6 and Hungary10. A phylogenetic tree was then constructed. The Korean BQCV strain showed a high level of similarity (92%) with Hungary10, but low similarity (86%) with the South African reference genotype. Comparison of the Korean and other sequences across different genome regions revealed that the 5'-UTR, the intergenic region, and the capsid regions of the BQCV genome were highly conserved. ORF1 (a non-structural protein coding region) was more variable than ORF2 (a structural protein coding region). The 5'-proximal third of ORF1 was particularly variable and contained several insertions/deletions. This phenomenon may be explained by intra-molecular recombination between the Korean and other BQCV genotypes; this appeared to have happened more with the South African reference strain than with the European genotypes.

Direct transmission by injection affects competition among RNA viruses in honeybees

“…Hence, while in our specific circumstances, DWV seemed to be outcompeted by BQCV and SBV, in other bee populations, competition might be more severe among a different set of RNA viruses. Moreover, BQCV in particular comprises a large number of different strains [44] which may differ in their competitiveness and virulence.…”

Viral transmission in honey bees and native bees, supported by a global black queen cell virus phylogeny

“…By inferring the evolutionary relatedness of pathogens, patterns of transmission can be inferred across time and space, which aids in the understanding of shared strains and, potentially, detection of directionality. Many recent bee virus studies include a phylogenetic component (Singh et al, 2010;Kojima et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2012;Levitt et al, 2013;Reddy et al, 2013;Yang et al, 2013;Li et al, 2014;Rodríguez et al, 2014;McMahon et al, 2015;Mookhploy et al, 2015;Wilfert et al, 2016;Yañez et al, 2016), though because most studies focused on a limited sample of viruses from a small geographic region, it has not been possible to uncover patterns of inter-continent pathogen transfer (though see Wilfert et al, 2016) and multiple viral introduction events.…”

Replication of honey bee-associated RNA viruses across multiple bee species in apple orchards of Georgia, Germany and Kyrgyzstan

“…In contrast, no well-resolved geographic pattern was found in the haplotype network of BQCV (Fig. 5), most likely due to lack of genetic variability in the highly conservative gene (structural capsid protein) used to confirm identity of this virus (Reddy et al, 2013).…”