Aronstein Katherine A, Saldivar Eduardo, Vega Rodrigo, Westmiller Stephanie, Douglas Angela E
Honey Bee Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Weslaco, TX 78596, USA.
Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Insects. 2012 Jun 27;3(3):601-15. doi: 10.3390/insects3030601.
We investigated the effect of the parasitic mite Varroa destructor on the immunological and nutritional condition of honey bees, Apis mellifera, from the perspective of the individual bee and the colony. Pupae, newly-emerged adults and foraging adults were sampled from honey bee colonies at one site in S. Texas, USA. Varroa‑infested bees displayed elevated titer of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV), suggestive of depressed capacity to limit viral replication. Expression of genes coding three anti-microbial peptides (defensin1, abaecin, hymenoptaecin) was either not significantly different between Varroa-infested and uninfested bees or was significantly elevated in Varroa-infested bees, varying with sampling date and bee developmental age. The effect of Varroa on nutritional indices of the bees was complex, with protein, triglyceride, glycogen and sugar levels strongly influenced by life-stage of the bee and individual colony. Protein content was depressed and free amino acid content elevated in Varroa-infested pupae, suggesting that protein synthesis, and consequently growth, may be limited in these insects. No simple relationship between the values of nutritional and immune-related indices was observed, and colony-scale effects were indicated by the reduced weight of pupae in colonies with high Varroa abundance, irrespective of whether the individual pupa bore Varroa.
我们从单个蜜蜂和蜂群的角度，研究了寄生螨狄斯瓦螨对西方蜜蜂免疫和营养状况的影响。从美国德克萨斯州南部一个地点的蜂群中采集蛹、新羽化的成年蜜蜂和觅食成年蜜蜂样本。感染狄斯瓦螨的蜜蜂显示出变形翼病毒（DWV）滴度升高，这表明其限制病毒复制的能力下降。编码三种抗菌肽（防御素1、阿贝菌素、膜翅肽）的基因表达在感染狄斯瓦螨的蜜蜂和未感染的蜜蜂之间要么没有显著差异，要么在感染狄斯瓦螨的蜜蜂中显著升高，这随采样日期和蜜蜂发育年龄而变化。狄斯瓦螨对蜜蜂营养指标的影响很复杂，蛋白质、甘油三酯、糖原和糖水平受蜜蜂的生命阶段和单个蜂群的强烈影响。感染狄斯瓦螨的蛹中蛋白质含量降低，游离氨基酸含量升高，这表明这些昆虫的蛋白质合成以及因此的生长可能受到限制。未观察到营养指标和免疫相关指标值之间的简单关系，并且高狄斯瓦螨数量的蜂群中蛹的重量减轻表明存在蜂群规模的影响，无论单个蛹是否携带狄斯瓦螨。
