Capsid Gene Divergence of Black Queen Cell Virus Isolates in Thailand and Japan Honey Bee Species

Abstract

Black queen cell virus (BQCV) has been found in honey bees worldwide. By using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, BQCV was detected in a non-native species, Apis mellifera L., collected in both Thailand and Japan, and three other honey bee species (Apis cerana indica F., Apis dorsata F., and Apis florae F.) native to Thailand and Apis cerana japonica F. native to Japan. Based on the capsid coding region, the phylogenetic analysis showed that the BQCV strains found in A. cerana indica and A. cerana japonica were similar within the group and closer to BQCV in Asia. It is interesting to note that the genetic variation of the BQCV isolates was more associated with geographic origin than the host bee species from which the isolates were obtained.

Phylogenetic analysis of black queen cell virus and deformed wing virus in honeybee colonies infected by mites in Van, Eastern Turkey

“…They showed 94% identity with the North America isolate and 95% and 96% identity with South American isolates from Uruguay and Brazil, respectively. Parallel to a previous study, the present study found that all BQCV sequences were very closely related to each other and distinct from the Triatoma virus (18).…”

Parasites, pathogens, and pests of honeybees in Asia

“…Genetic variations of BQCV strains across four species of honeybees have been studied. Based on the capsid coding region, the phylogenetic analysis revealed that BQCV isolates from northern Thailand, China, South Korea, and Japan displayed a close relationship within Asia and split separately from South Africa and European regions, regardless of the host bee species from which the samples originated (Mookhploy et al 2015). Similar findings were reported with the BQCV strains in Korea and Japan where the viral isolates from the same country or continent showed high levels of similarity (Kojima et al 2011;Noh et al 2013).…”

“…BQCV was first isolated from queen larvae and pupae of A. mellifera found dead within their cells (Bailey and Woods 1977). The virus is highly prevalent in A. mellifera in Thailand, South Korea, China, Japan, and Vietnam ( Sanpa and Chantawannakul 2009;Ai et al 2012;Yang et al 2013;Reddy et al 2013;Kojima et al 2011;Forsgren et al 2015); in A. cerana in South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan (Li et al 2012;Choe et al 2012;Yang et al 2013;Forsgren et al 2015;Mookhploy et al 2015); and in A. florea and A. dorsata from China and Thailand (Zhang et al 2012;Mookhploy et al 2015). Genetic variations of BQCV strains across four species of honeybees have been studied.…”

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.…”