Seasonal variation of viral infections between the eastern honey bee (<i>Apis cerana</i>) and the western honey bee (<i>Apis mellifera</i>)

Chen, Gongwen; Wu, Yuqi; Deng, Jie; Wen, Zhen; Wang, Shuai; Chen, Yanping; Hu, Fuliang; Zheng, Huoqing

doi:10.1002/mbo3.1162

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The cumulative abundance had a different trend, as it gradually increased monthly to peak in July when a decrease proceeded to reach a minimum in October. These results are in line with the seasonal pattern the same pathogens show in the A. mellifera colonies, where they often peak in spring/summer with a possible return in the late season (Tentcheva et al, 2004;D'Alvise et al, 2019;Dalmon et al, 2019b;Loeza-Concha et al, 2020;Chen et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…That increase may be associated with both the development of the honey bee colonies and the availability of floral resources. Indeed, after the winter, the colony starts the growth of its population, which is intended to peak in summer, with an increased probability both of intra-colonial ( Smith et al., 2013 ; Steinhauer et al., 2018 ; D’Alvise et al., 2019 ; Chen et al., 2021 ) and interspecific environmental transmission ( Bartlett et al., 2019 ; Wilfert, 2021 ). Furthermore, the reduced flower availability in summer prompts pollinators to concentrate on the limited resources available, increasing the probability of pathogen exchanges among the potential host species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Occurrence of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Pathogens in Wild Pollinators in Northern Italy

Cilia

Flaminio

Zavatta

et al. 2022

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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Diseases contribute to the decline of pollinator populations, which may be aggravated by the interspecific transmission of honey bee pests and pathogens. Flowers increase the risk of transmission, as they expose the pollinators to infections during the foraging activity. In this study, both the prevalence and abundance of 21 honey bee pathogens (11 viruses, 4 bacteria, 3 fungi, and 3 trypanosomatids) were assessed in the flower-visiting entomofauna sampled from March to September 2021 in seven sites in the two North-Italian regions, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont. A total of 1,028 specimens were collected, identified, and analysed. Of the twenty-one pathogens that were searched for, only thirteen were detected. Altogether, the prevalence of the positive individuals reached 63.9%, with Nosema ceranae, deformed wing virus (DWV), and chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) as the most prevalent pathogens. In general, the pathogen abundance averaged 5.15 * 106 copies, with CBPV, N. ceranae, and black queen cell virus (BQCV) as the most abundant pathogens, with 8.63, 1.58, and 0.48 * 107 copies, respectively. All the detected viruses were found to be replicative. The sequence analysis indicated that the same genetic variant was circulating in a specific site or region, suggesting that interspecific transmission events among honey bees and wild pollinators are possible. Frequently, N. ceranae and DWV were found to co-infect the same individual. The circulation of honey bee pathogens in wild pollinators was never investigated before in Italy. Our study resulted in the unprecedented detection of 72 wild pollinator species as potential hosts of honey bee pathogens. Those results encourage the implementation of monitoring actions aiming to improve our understanding of the environmental implications of such interspecific transmission events, which is pivotal to embracing a One Health approach to pollinators’ welfare.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Pathogens in Wild Pollinators in Northern Italy

Cilia

Flaminio

Zavatta

et al. 2022

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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“…This study provides a molecular basis on a Chinese isolate of BQCV and helps us understand the genomic characteristics of this virus, as well as viral pathogenic mechanism. Previous results also showed that multiple infections were common in A. mellifera and A. cerana in China [9, 47, 48]. More importantly, it provides a possible way to characterize the infection dynamics of BQCV to avoid several viruses are co-infected within one bee.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Recovery and genetic characterization of black queen cell virus

Yang

Deng

Zhang

et al. 2022

Journal of General Virology

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Black queen cell virus (BQCV) is a severe threat to the honeybee (Apis mellifera) worldwide. Although several BQCV strains have been reported in China, the molecular basis for BQCV pathogenicity has not been well understood. Thus, a reverse genetic system of BQCV is required for studying viral replication and its pathogenic mechanism. Here, the complete genome sequence of BQCV was obtained from honeybees using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR), namely a BQCV China-GS1 strain (KY741959). Then, a phylogenetic tree was built to analyse the genetic relationships among BQCV strains from different regions. Our results showed that the BQCV China-GS1 contained two ORFs, consistent with the known reference strains, except for the BQCV China-JL1 strain (KP119603). Furthermore, the infectious clone of BQCV was constructed based on BQCV China-GS1 using a low copy vector pACYC177 and gene recombination. Due to the lack of culture cells for bee viruses, we infected the healthy bees with infectious clone of BQCV, and the rescued BQCV resulted in the recovery of recombinant virus, which induced higher mortality than those of the control group. Immune response after inoculated with BQCV further confirmed that the infectious clone of BQCV caused the cellular and humoral immune response of honeybee (A. mellifera). In conclusion, the full nucleotide sequence of BQCV China-GS1 strain was determined, and the infectious clone of BQCV was constructed in this study. These data will improve the understanding of pathogenesis and the host immune responses to viral infection.

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“…One mite species in particular, Varroa destructor (Anderson and Trueman), has drawn the attention of scientists owing to its tremendous effects on a key pollinator: the western honey bee (Apis mellifera) [15]. Varroa destructor is an ectoparasite of both its original host Apis cerana and the sister species A. mellifera and is well-known to act as a vector of several viruses [16][17][18][19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transmission of deformed wing virus between Varroa destructor foundresses, mite offspring and infested honey bees

et al. 2022

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Background Varroa destructor is the major ectoparasite of the western honey bee (Apis mellifera). Through both its parasitic life-cycle and its role as a vector of viral pathogens, it can cause major damage to honey bee colonies. The deformed wing virus (DWV) is the most common virus transmitted by this ectoparasite, and the mite is correlated to increased viral prevalence and viral loads in infested colonies. DWV variants A and B (DWV-A and DWV-B, respectively) are the two major DWV variants, and they differ both in their virulence and transmission dynamics. Methods We studied the transmission of DWV between bees, parasitic mites and their offspring by quantifying DWV loads in bees and mites collected in in vitro and in situ environments. In vitro, we artificially transmitted DWV-A to mites and quantified both DWV-A and DWV-B in mites and bees. In situ, we measured the natural presence of DWV-B in bees, mites and mites’ offspring. Results Bee and mite viral loads were correlated, and mites carrying both variants were associated with higher mortality of the infected host. Mite infestation increased the DWV-B loads and decreased the DWV-A loads in our laboratory conditions. In situ, viral quantification in the mite offspring showed that, after an initially non-infected egg stage, the DWV-B loads were more closely correlated with the foundress (mother) mites than with the bee hosts. Conclusions The association between mites and DWV-B was highlighted in this study. The parasitic history of a mite directly impacts its DWV infection potential during the rest of its life-cycle (in terms of variant and viral loads). Regarding the mite’s progeny, we hypothesize that the route of contamination is likely through the feeding site rather than by vertical transmission, although further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis. Graphical Abstract

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Seasonal variation of viral infections between the eastern honey bee (Apis cerana) and the western honey bee (Apis mellifera)

Cited by 18 publications

References 45 publications

Occurrence of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Pathogens in Wild Pollinators in Northern Italy

Occurrence of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera L.) Pathogens in Wild Pollinators in Northern Italy

Recovery and genetic characterization of black queen cell virus

Transmission of deformed wing virus between Varroa destructor foundresses, mite offspring and infested honey bees

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