Detection and Replication of Moku Virus in Honey Bees and Social Wasps

Highfield, Andrea; Kevill, Jessica L.; Mordecai, Gideon; Hunt, J. H.; Henderson, Summer; Sauvard, Daniel; Feltwell, John; Martin, Stephen J.; Sumner, Seirian; Schroeder, Declan C.

doi:10.3390/v12060607

Cited by 22 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Aside from Hawaii, Moku virus has been found in Vespula spp. from several geographical locations, and has been found in honey bees and their associated Varroa mites [28,45,46]. While Moku virus is apparently widespread and may infect multiple insect species, the transmission potential, virulence, and effects on insect populations of Moku infections are currently unknown, although it is hypothesized that Vespula spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiome of the wasp Vespula pensylvanica in native and invasive populations, and associations with Moku virus

et al. 2021

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Invasive species present a worldwide concern as competition and pathogen reservoirs for native species. Specifically, the invasive social wasp, Vespula pensylvanica, is native to western North America and has become naturalized in Hawaii, where it exerts pressures on native arthropod communities as a competitor and predator. As invasive species may alter the microbial and disease ecology of their introduced ranges, there is a need to understand the microbiomes and virology of social wasps. We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing to characterize the microbiome of V. pensylvanica samples pooled by colony across two geographically distinct ranges and found that wasps generally associate with taxa within the bacterial genera Fructobacillus, Fructilactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, and Zymobacter, and likely associate with environmentally-acquired bacteria. Furthermore, V. pensylvanica harbors—and in some cases were dominated by—many endosymbionts including Wolbachia, Sodalis, Arsenophonus, and Rickettsia, and were found to contain bee-associated taxa, likely due to scavenging on or predation upon honey bees. Next, we used reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR to assay colony-level infection intensity for Moku virus (family: Iflaviridae), a recently-described disease that is known to infect multiple Hymenopteran species. While Moku virus was prevalent and in high titer, it did not associate with microbial diversity, indicating that the microbiome may not directly interact with Moku virus in V. pensylvanica in meaningful ways. Collectively, our results suggest that the invasive social wasp V. pensylvanica associates with a simple microbiome, may be infected with putative endosymbionts, likely acquires bacterial taxa from the environment and diet, and is often infected with Moku virus. Our results suggest that V. pensylvanica, like other invasive social insects, has the potential to act as a reservoir for bacteria pathogenic to other pollinators, though this requires experimental demonstration.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbiome of the wasp Vespula pensylvanica in native and invasive populations, and associations with Moku virus

et al. 2021

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“…It will be important to determine the prevalence and pathogenicity of the novel Moku-like virus in global wasp and honey bee populations, given that the closely related Moku virus has now been widely isolated [ 35 , 36 , 37 ] and has potential fitness impacts on hosts [ 33 ]. Control of Vespula wasp populations may be achievable through the discovery of novel viruses that infect them [ 61 ], however, consideration of potential spillover effects into commercial pollinators is critical given that pathogen sharing is widespread amongst Hymenoptera [ 25 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the majority of viruses identified in wasps have been previously described from honey bees, a novel Iflavirus, Moku virus, was recently isolated in the wasp Vespula pensylvanica [ 5 ]. Moku virus has also been detected in neighboring honey bees and Varroa and has since been identified in hornets ( Vespa velutina [ 35 , 36 ]) and other wasp species, with frequent detections in V. vulgaris [ 37 , 38 ]. Moku virus loads are typically much higher in V. pensylvanica compared to co-located invertebrates, suggesting a possible host preference for wasps [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Diverse Viral Community from Predatory Wasps in Their Native and Invaded Range, with a New Virus Infectious to Honey Bees

Remnant

Baty

Bulgarella

et al. 2021

Viruses

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Wasps of the genus Vespula are social insects that have become major pests and predators in their introduced range. Viruses present in these wasps have been studied in the context of spillover from honey bees, yet we lack an understanding of the endogenous virome of wasps as potential reservoirs of novel emerging infectious diseases. We describe the characterization of 68 novel and nine previously identified virus sequences found in transcriptomes of Vespula vulgaris in colonies sampled from their native range (Belgium) and an invasive range (New Zealand). Many viruses present in the samples were from the Picorna-like virus family (38%). We identified one Luteo-like virus, Vespula vulgaris Luteo-like virus 1, present in the three life stages examined in all colonies from both locations, suggesting this virus is a highly prevalent and persistent infection in wasp colonies. Additionally, we identified a novel Iflavirus with similarity to a recently identified Moku virus, a known wasp and honey bee pathogen. Experimental infection of honey bees with this novel Vespula vulgaris Moku-like virus resulted in an active infection. The high viral diversity present in these invasive wasps is a likely indication that their polyphagous diet is a rich source of viral infections.

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“…Next, the Tag-PCR was performed by the forward primer Tag and the reverse primer (virus-specific sequence). Twelve virus-positive samples (determined by (1) RT-PCR) from four groups (three samples per group) were randomly chosen for the detection of the replication strand (positive sense of this virus) by Tag-PCR ( Highfield et al 2020 ). Briefly, 500 ng RNA was reverse transcribed using the tag- Bunyavirus primer (5′-TCGAGTGTCACAGTCACGAC-CGCCTGAGAGGTGTGCTATT-3′) at 55°C.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of a Novel Bunyavirus in Tea Tussock Moth Euproctis pseudoconspersa (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

Wang

Qiao-ying

Zhang

et al. 2021

Journal of Insect Science

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Euproctis pseudoconspersa is a major pest of tea plants, and also causes a skin rash on workers in tea plantations. Research on virus could provide fundamental insights for classification, genetic diversity, evolution, and host–virus interaction mechanisms. Here, we identified a novel RNA virus, Euproctis pseudoconspersa bunyavirus (Phenuiviridae), and found that it is widely distributed in field populations of E. pseudoconspersa. The replication of virus in E. pseudoconspersa was indicated by Tag-PCR. These results contribute to the classification of bunyaviruses and provide insight into the diversity of commensal E. pseudoconspersa bunyavirus and the host.

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Detection and Replication of Moku Virus in Honey Bees and Social Wasps

Cited by 22 publications

References 28 publications

Microbiome of the wasp Vespula pensylvanica in native and invasive populations, and associations with Moku virus

Microbiome of the wasp Vespula pensylvanica in native and invasive populations, and associations with Moku virus

A Diverse Viral Community from Predatory Wasps in Their Native and Invaded Range, with a New Virus Infectious to Honey Bees

Prevalence of a Novel Bunyavirus in Tea Tussock Moth Euproctis pseudoconspersa (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae)

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