Can We Disrupt the Sensing of Honey Bees by the Bee Parasite Varroa destructor?

Eliash, Nurit; Singh, Nitin Kumar; Kamer, Y.; Pinnelli, Govardhana R.; Plettner, Erika; Soroker, Victoria

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106889

Cited by 32 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The similarity in expression levels of these chemosensory transcripts in the two stages could be explained by the fact that in both stages Varroa requires chemosensing. In the phoretic stage, Varroa needs to differentiates between different bee hosts 11 , while in the reproductive stage, the mite needs to synchronize its reproduction in accordance with the stage of the developing bee pupa 49 . The high expression of these specific transcripts may indicate their importance in chemosensation in both stages, and therefore should be further investigated.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Chemosensing of honeybee parasite, Varroa destructor: Transcriptomic analysis

Eliash

Singh

Thangarajan

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chemosensing is a primary sense in nature, however little is known about its mechanism in Chelicerata. As a model organism we used the mite Varroa destructor, a key parasite of honeybees. Here we describe a transcriptomic analysis of two physiological stages for the Varroa foreleg, the site of primary olfactory organ. The transcriptomic analysis revealed transcripts of chemosensory related genes belonging to several groups. These include Niemann-Pick disease protein, type C2 (NPC2), gustatory receptors (GRs), ionotropic receptors (IRs), sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs) and odorant binding proteins (OBP). However, no insect odorant receptors (ORs) and odorant co-receptors (ORcos) were found. In addition, we identified a homolog of the most ancient IR co-receptor, IR25a, in Varroa as well as in other members of Acari. High expression of this transcript in the mite’s forelegs, while not detectable in the other pairs of legs, suggests a function for this IR25a-like in Varroa chemosensing.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of the knowledge regarding Chelicerata chemosensing is limited to morphological and electrophysiological studies 7–11 . It is assumed that Chelicera branched from Hexapoda and Myriapoda just after arthropods invaded land (during the late Cambrian period) 12,13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemosensing of honeybee parasite, Varroa destructor: Transcriptomic analysis

Eliash

Singh

Thangarajan

et al. 2017

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is not surprising, as the rear legs are mainly responsible for the mite's locomotion, whereas Varroa forelegs are frequently raised in the air, and can be described as analogous to insect antennae (Eliash et al, 2014;Plettner et al, 2016). This is not surprising, as the rear legs are mainly responsible for the mite's locomotion, whereas Varroa forelegs are frequently raised in the air, and can be described as analogous to insect antennae (Eliash et al, 2014;Plettner et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…and considered to be one of the major causes of honeybee colony losses almost worldwide (Francis et al, 2013;Steinhauer et al, 2018). The main chemosensory organ of the Varroa is situated on the distal dorsal part of each foreleg, containing chemosensory sensilla (Dillier et al, 2006), and has been shown to participate in chemosensing of honeybee volatiles (Eliash et al, 2014). The Varroa life cycle is well synchronized with that of honeybees and can be generally divided into two main phases: a phoretic phase, in which the Varroa parasitizes an adult bee (nurse or forager), and a reproductive phase, in which the Varroa reproduces within the sealed brood cell (Rosenkranz et al, 2010;Evans and Cook, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Varroa chemosensory proteins: some are conserved across Arthropoda but others are arachnid specific

Eliash

Thangarajan

Goldenberg

et al. 2019

Insect Molecular Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The tight synchronization between the life cycle of the obligatory parasitic mite Varroa destructor (Varroa) and its host, the honeybee, is mediated by honeybee chemical stimuli. These stimuli are mainly perceived by a pit organ located on the distal part of the mite’s foreleg. In the present study, we searched for Varroa chemosensory molecular components by comparing transcriptomic and proteomic profiles between forelegs from different physiological stages, and rear legs. In general, a comparative transcriptomic analysis showed a clear separation of the expression profiles between the rear legs and the three groups of forelegs (phoretic, reproductive and tray‐collected mites). Most of the differentially expressed transcripts and proteins in the mite’s foreleg were previously uncharacterized. Using a conserved domain approach, we identified 45 transcripts with known chemosensory domains belonging to seven chemosensory protein families, of which 14 were significantly upregulated in the mite’s forelegs when compared to rear legs. These are soluble and membrane bound proteins, including the somewhat ignored receptors of degenerin/epithelial Na+ channels and transient receptor potentials. Phylogenetic clustering and expression profiles of the putative chemosensory proteins suggest their role in chemosensation and shed light on the evolution of these proteins in Chelicerata.

show abstract

“…Again, electrophysiological studies could help to identify the further specificity of the sensilla for further compounds. Such studies have so far only been performed on the front leg of female mites in relation to host finding behavior (Eliash et al, 2014). Male mites spent their whole life cycle within the sealed brood cell without a phoretic phase on the adult bees .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male mites (Varroa destructor) perceive the female sex pheromone with the sensory pit organ on the front leg tarsi

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-Varroa destructor males are attracted by a volatile sex pheromone of female mites. We assume that this pheromone is perceived by the sensory pit organ on the front leg tarsi. To test this hypothesis, the front legs of the males were varnished with nail polish. The behavior of the thus treated males toward attractive female mites was analyzed in our mating bioassay and compared to untreated control males and to males with varnished idiosoma. The control males with the varnished idiosoma revealed the same distinct copulation behavior as untreated males whereas the males with the varnished front legs did not show copulation attempts any more. Hence, the sensory pit organ is responsible for the perception of female signals that elicit the copulation behavior. Additionally, a first scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis is presented to characterize the male sensory pit organ.Varroa destructor / sex pheromone / male / sensory pit organ / mating behavior

show abstract

Can We Disrupt the Sensing of Honey Bees by the Bee Parasite Varroa destructor?

Cited by 32 publications

References 30 publications

Chemosensing of honeybee parasite, Varroa destructor: Transcriptomic analysis

Chemosensing of honeybee parasite, Varroa destructor: Transcriptomic analysis

Varroa chemosensory proteins: some are conserved across Arthropoda but others are arachnid specific

Male mites (Varroa destructor) perceive the female sex pheromone with the sensory pit organ on the front leg tarsi

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About