Entomology Department, Institute of Plant Protection, ARO, The Volcani Center, POB 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
Genomics Department, Institute of Plant Sciences, ARO, The Volcani Center, POB 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel.
Virology. 2014 Apr;454-455:176-83. doi: 10.1016/j.virol.2014.02.012. Epub 2014 Mar 6.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a special case of collapse of honey bee colonies, has resulted in significant losses for beekeepers. CCD-colonies show abundance of pathogens which suggests that they have a weakened immune system. Since honey bee viruses are major players in colony collapse and given the important role of viral RNA interference (RNAi) in combating viral infections we investigated if CCD-colonies elicit an RNAi response. Deep-sequencing analysis of samples from CCD-colonies from US and Israel revealed abundant small interfering RNAs (siRNA) of 21-22 nucleotides perfectly matching the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), Kashmir virus and Deformed wing virus genomes. Israeli colonies showed high titers of IAPV and a conserved RNAi-pattern of matching the viral genome. That was also observed in sample analysis from colonies experimentally infected with IAPV. Our results suggest that CCD-colonies set out a siRNA response that is specific against predominant viruses associated with colony losses.
蜂群崩溃失调症（CCD）是蜜蜂蜂群崩溃的一种特殊情况，给养蜂人造成了重大损失。CCD 蜂群中存在大量病原体，这表明它们的免疫系统较弱。由于蜜蜂病毒是导致蜂群崩溃的主要因素，而病毒 RNA 干扰（RNAi）在对抗病毒感染方面起着重要作用，我们研究了 CCD 蜂群是否会引发 RNAi 反应。对来自美国和以色列的 CCD 蜂群样本进行深度测序分析，揭示了大量 21-22 个核苷酸的小干扰 RNA（siRNA），与以色列急性麻痹病毒（IAPV）、 Kashmir 病毒和畸形翅膀病毒基因组完全匹配。以色列蜂群显示出高滴度的 IAPV 和与病毒基因组匹配的保守 RNAi 模式。在实验感染 IAPV 的蜂群样本分析中也观察到了这种情况。我们的研究结果表明，CCD 蜂群启动了一种针对与蜂群损失相关的主要病毒的特异性 siRNA 反应。
