Multiple Virus Infections and the Characteristics of Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus in Diseased Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera L.) in China

Abstract

A b s t r a c t China has the largest number of managed honey bee colonies globally, but there is currently no data on viral infection in diseased A. mellifera L. colonies in China. In particular, there is a lack of data on chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) in Chinese honey bee colonies. Consequently, the present study investigated the occurrence and frequency of several widespread honey bee viruses in diseased Chinese apiaries, and we used the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Described was the relationship between the presence of CBPV and diseased colonies (with at least one of the following symptoms: depopulation, paralysis, dark body colorings and hairless, or a mass of dead bees on the ground surrounding the beehives). Phylogenetic analyses of CBPV were employed. The prevalence of multiple infections of honey bee viruses in diseased Chinese apiaries was 100%, and the prevalence of infections with even five and six viruses were higher than expected. The incidence of CBPV in diseased colonies was significantly higher than that in apparently healthy colonies in Chinese A. mellifera aparies, and CBPV isolates from China can be separated into Chinese-Japanese clade 1 and 2. The results indicate that beekeeping in China may be threatened by colony decline due to the high prevalence of multiple viruses with CBPV.Keywords: Apis mellifera L, China, chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), diseased honey bees, multiple viruses, phylogeny. INTRODUCTIONHoney bees (Apis mellifera L.) are one of the most important and economically valuable pollinators of crops worldwide and are the most commonly managed pollinator species. Colonies of A. mellifera serve as biological indicators and provide invaluable data on the environmental and ecological impacts of particular factors on nature in general (Celli and Maccagnani, 2003). However, the abundance of honey bees is currently declining (vanEngelsdorp et al., 2011). The possible reasons for this decline are pathogens and pesticides (Vejsnaes et al., 2010). To date, at least 18 viruses have been reported in honey bees colonies (de Miranda et al., 2013) with the following viruses being the most common: deformed wing virus (DWV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), sacbrood virus (SBV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), Kashmir bee virus (KBV), and chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV). Multiple viral infections in honey bees have been reported in several countries (Berényi et al., 2006;Todd et al., 2007;Chen et al., 2011;Morimoto et al., 2012). Multiple viral infections are considered to (Allen and Ball, 1996;Chantawannakul et al., 2006). Thus, monitoring the occurrence and frequency of these viruses is vital for maintaining successful apiaries. It has been reported that the following viruses can be present in apparently healthy honey bee colonies: DWV, BQCV, IAPV, SBV, ABPV, and KBV (Berényi et al., 2006;Ai et al., 2012;Morimoto et al., 2012;Yang et al., 2013;Jia et al., 2014). The majority of DWV infected bees were asympt...

Sublethal effects of imidacloprid on targeting muscle and ribosomal protein related genes in the honey bee Apis mellifera L.

“…qRT-PCR analyses were performed with independently generated samples from a separate exposure experiment conducted using the same exposure protocol as describe above. Extraction of total RNA from pooled honey bee samples, first-strand cDNA syntheses and qRT-PCR were performed using commercial kits as described previously 45 , 46 . Briefly, the extraction of total RNA was performed using TRIzol regent following manufacturer’s instructions.…”

“…RNA concentration and quality were assessed using the NanoDrop 2000. The reaction mixture and thermal cycling profiles of cDNA synthesis were performed as previously described 45 , 46 . qRT-PCR was performed using a SYBR Green-based KAPA FAST qPCR Kit (Kapa Biosystems, Boston, MA, USA), following manufacturer’s instructions.…”

Comparative Genomic Analysis for Genetic Variation in Sacbrood Virus of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera Honeybees From Different Regions of Vietnam

“…However, when the adult bee is infected, it displays no clear physical signs ( Bailey 1975 , Berényi et al 2006 ). According to previous studies, SBV has the greatest effect on A. cerana and A. mellifera in Asian countries and Vietnam ( Ai et al 2012 , Choe et al 2012a , b , Forsgren et al 2015 , Wu et al 2015 , Yanez et al 2015 , Ha et al 2016 , Sarwar 2016 , Wang et al 2016 ). SBV is a picorna-like virus of the genus Iflavirus , with a single positive-strand RNA genome of ~8.8 kb, with a single large open reading frame (ORF).…”

Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus Infection Leads to an Enhanced RNA Interference Response and Not Its Suppression in the Bumblebee Bombus terrestris

“…Within the concept of virus multi-host dynamics [30], the presence of VSRs can severely impact the virus virulence in different hosts, as the immunosuppressive capacity is dependent on the host immune strategies and their sensitivity towards VSRs. Also within the same host species, VSRs can influence the virulence of co-infecting viruses [31], an important feature now that multi-virus reports in pollinators are emerging [32,33]. …”