Molecular Detection ofNosema apisandN. Ceranaefrom Southwestern and South Central USA Feral Africanized and European Honey Bees,Apis mellifera(Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Szalanski, Allen L.; Tripodi, Amber D.; Trammel, Clinton E.

doi:10.1653/024.097.0233

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…ceranae was present in the Australian populations [ 66 ]. Our pathogen results are consistent with studies that identified lower intensity or prevalence of Nosema parasites in feral bees than managed bees in the U.S. and Australia [ 22 , 67 , 68 ], and a similar trend in Europe [ 21 ]. We detected an extraordinarily high prevalence of N .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Urbanization Increases Pathogen Pressure on Feral and Managed Honey Bees

et al. 2015

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Given the role of infectious disease in global pollinator decline, there is a need to understand factors that shape pathogen susceptibility and transmission in bees. Here we ask how urbanization affects the immune response and pathogen load of feral and managed colonies of honey bees (Apis mellifera Linnaeus), the predominant economically important pollinator worldwide. Using quantitative real-time PCR, we measured expression of 4 immune genes and relative abundance of 10 honey bee pathogens. We also measured worker survival in a laboratory bioassay. We found that pathogen pressure on honey bees increased with urbanization and management, and the probability of worker survival declined 3-fold along our urbanization gradient. The effect of management on pathogens appears to be mediated by immunity, with feral bees expressing immune genes at nearly twice the levels of managed bees following an immune challenge. The effect of urbanization, however, was not linked with immunity; instead, urbanization may favor viability and transmission of some disease agents. Feral colonies, with lower disease burdens and stronger immune responses, may illuminate ways to improve honey bee management. The previously unexamined effects of urbanization on honey-bee disease are concerning, suggesting that urban areas may favor problematic diseases of pollinators.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Urbanization Increases Pathogen Pressure on Feral and Managed Honey Bees

et al. 2015

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“…Different researchers who used the same technique determined N. ceranae for the first time in European honeybee colonies in Canada and the central USA (28), France (20), Spain (29), Jordan (30), and the United States (31). On the other hand, Klee et al (21) and Szalanski et al (32) reported that the PCR-RFLP method was quite fast and reliable in diagnosing the species and discriminating the pathogen species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Along with extensive studies on the determination of the species of Nosema spores at the molecular level in the world (23,32,33), the number of studies related to the agent for the disease seems to be high in Turkey; however, these studies have been limited to the general presence …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular detection of Nosema spp. and black queen-cell virusin honeybees in Van Province, Turkey

Oğuz¹,

Karapınar²,

Dinçer³

et al. 2017

Turk J Vet Anim Sci

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This study was planned to determine the prevalences of the Nosema spp. and the black queen-cell virus (BQCV) among honeybees (Apis mellifera) raised in the province of Van by PCR and to determine the molecular characteristics of the determined isolates. A total of 260 adult worker bees from 26 colonies at 5 apiary locations belonging to the province of Van in April and May 2015 were collected for this reason. Samples were examined microscopically. In the case of positivity, spore identification was done by multiplex PCR. Reverse transcription/PCR analysis (RT/PCR) was carried out for the BQCV analysis. At the end of the microscopic examination, Nosema spp. spores were detected in 8 out of 26 colonies (32.5%). The result of multiplex-PCR revealed Nosema ceranae positivity in all of the samples, but no Nosema apis was determined. As a result of the RT/PCR tests of the samples BQCV was detected in 23 (88.5%) of the total 26 colonies. This study is the first to investigate Nosema spp. and BQCV with the PCR technique in bees raised in the province of Van.

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“…Similar to our findings, Gilliam and Taber (1991) reported very low N. apis spore counts in a feral honey bee population in Arizona, with only 42 % of sampled colonies testing positive for N. apis spores. More recently, Szalanski (2014) explored the prevalence of N. apis in feral Africanized honey bees in five different states, including Texas. They found that less than 10 % of the samples tested positive for N. apis , with infections being more common in Texas than in any other state.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gilliam and Taber (1991) first reported the presence of N. apis in feral honey bees from Arizona, where they found a very low level of infection, with 9 of 21 individuals sampled being infected with only one to five N. apis spores per infected bee. More recently, Szalanski (2014) explored the prevalence of Nosema spp. in feral Africanized honey bees in Arkansas, New Mexico, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of Nosema species in a feral honey bee population: a 20-year survey

et al. 2015

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-Nosema spp. are microsporidian pathogens of honey bees that cause nosemosis, a disease implicated in colony losses worldwide. Few studies have measured Nosema spp. levels in feral honey bees. We evaluated the presence and infection intensity of Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae in a feral Africanized honey bee population in south Texas from 1991 to 2001 and in 2013. Overall, less than 6 % of samples had Nosema spp. spores. N. apis was only found in samples from 1991 to 1995. Conversely, N. ceranae was found every year examined, ranging from 16.7 % infection in 1991 to 85.7 % in 2013. There were no effects of temperature or rainfall on infection with either species over time. This suggests that feral honey bees are relatively free of Nosema spp. compared to managed colonies. More studies on the incidence of Nosema spp. in feral honey bee populations are needed.Apis mellifera / Africanized feral honey bees / Nosema apis / Nosema ceranae / qPCR INTRODUCTIONNosemosis, a disease of honey bees that infects epithelial cells of the midgut (Bailey 1981;Matheson 1993), can be caused by the presence of microsporidia species in the genus Nosema (Nosematidae). Nosemosis is transmitted horizontally between adults through the oral-fecal route, where uninfected adults become infected by contact with food or feces contaminated with Nosema spp. spores (Fries 1993(Fries , 1996. Following ingestion, spores germinate within the midgut by ejecting a polar filament that injects the Nosema spp. sporoplasm into epithelial cells of the midgut.Vegetative stages reproduce within the cells to form spores that are released upon lysis of the cell, which then are freed to infect other midgut epithelial cells (Bailey and Ball 1991). Two species of Nosema can infect the honey bee Apis mellifera : Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae .N. apis affects the western European honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) and is found worldwide (Matheson 1996). N. ceranae was first discovered in the Asian honey bee Apis cerana in 1996 (Fries 1996), was later identified in managed Apis mellifera colonies in Spain and Taiwan (Higes et al. 2006;Huang et al. 2007), and is now widespread in Europe (Higes et al. 2006(Higes et al. , 2009aChauzat 2007;Huang et al. 2007Huang et al. , 2008Klee et al. 2007;Paxton et al. 2007;Topolska and S. Kasprzak 2007), North America (Chen et al. 2008;Williams et al. 2008; Traver and Fell 2011a, b) Medici et al. 2012;Mendoza et al. 2014), Africa (Fries 2003;Higes et al. 2009b), and Australia (Giersch et al. 2009). While honey bee colonies infected with N. apis exhibit fecal streaking on the hives and comb due to severe dysentery (Hassanein 1951;Fries 1993), those infected with N. ceranae do not show obvious external symptoms. Despite the key symptomatic differences caused by different Nosema species, infection with one or both species causes significant declines in a colony's overall worker population (Wang and Mofller 1970;Higes et al. 2008) and honey production (Hassanein 1951;Fries et al. 1984;Rinderer and Sylvester 1978;Anderson and G...

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Molecular Detection ofNosema apisandN. Ceranaefrom Southwestern and South Central USA Feral Africanized and European Honey Bees,Apis mellifera(Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Cited by 15 publications

References 16 publications

Urbanization Increases Pathogen Pressure on Feral and Managed Honey Bees

Urbanization Increases Pathogen Pressure on Feral and Managed Honey Bees

Molecular detection of Nosema spp. and black queen-cell virusin honeybees in Van Province, Turkey

Prevalence of Nosema species in a feral honey bee population: a 20-year survey

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