Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Udine, Via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy.
J Insect Physiol. 2012 Dec;58(12):1548-55. doi: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2012.09.008. Epub 2012 Oct 3.
Several factors threaten the health of honeybees; among them the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and the Deformed Wing Virus play a major role. Recently, the dangerous interplay between the mite and the virus was studied in detail and the transition, triggered by mite feeding, from a benign covert infection to a devastating viral outbreak, characterized by an intense viral replication, associated with some characteristic symptoms, was described. In order to gain insight into the events preceding that crucial transition we carried out standardized lab experiments aiming at studying the effects of parasitization in asymptomatic bees to establish a relationship between such effects and bee mortality. It appears that parasitization alters the capacity of the honeybee to regulate water exchange; this, in turn, has severe effects on bee survival. These results are discussed in light of possible novel strategies aiming at mitigating the impact of the parasite on honeybee health.
几种因素威胁着蜜蜂的健康；其中，寄生虫瓦螨和变形翅膀病毒起着主要作用。最近，研究人员详细研究了螨虫和病毒之间的危险相互作用，发现由螨虫喂食引发的、从良性隐性感染到毁灭性病毒爆发的转变，其特征是强烈的病毒复制，伴随着一些特征性症状。为了深入了解这一关键转变之前的事件，我们进行了标准化的实验室实验，旨在研究无症状蜜蜂被寄生的影响，以建立这种影响与蜜蜂死亡率之间的关系。研究表明，寄生会改变蜜蜂调节水分交换的能力；这反过来又对蜜蜂的生存产生严重影响。这些结果结合可能的新策略进行了讨论，旨在减轻寄生虫对蜜蜂健康的影响。
