Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews KY16 9ST, UK.
Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3FX, UK.
Viruses. 2022 Jul 22;14(8):1597. doi: 10.3390/v14081597.
is an ectoparasitic mite associated with significant losses of honeybee colonies globally. The mite vectors a range of pathogenic viruses, the most important of which is the Deformed wing virus (DWV). In the absence of , DWV exists as a low-level, highly diverse virus population. However, when transmitted by certain variants become highly elevated, and may become near-clonal and cause symptomatic infections. Mite transmission between colonies can occur when parasitised workers drift from or rob adjacent hives. These activities can result in elevated mite levels, but the resulting change in the DWV population, the primary determinant of winter colony losses, has not been determined. In reciprocal studies, we investigated the influence of the removal of mites, or their acquisition, on the DWV population. When mites were removed from heavily infested colonies, there was a striking and rapid reduction in virus load. Conversely, siting -naïve colonies in a mite-infested apiary resulted in the acquisition of mites and concomitant changes in the virus population. We observed both near-clonal and highly divergent virus populations regardless of titre, suggesting changes were stochastic and colony-specific. Our findings have implications for the outcome of strategies in areas with total or patchy implementation of control plans.
是一种与全球蜜蜂蜂群大量损失有关的外寄生螨。这种螨虫传播多种致病病毒，其中最重要的是变形翅膀病毒（DWV）。在没有 的情况下，DWV 作为低水平、高度多样化的病毒群存在。然而，当通过 传播时，某些变体的病毒水平会显著升高，可能变得近克隆并导致有症状的感染。当受感染的工蜂从相邻蜂群中漂移或抢劫时，螨虫会在蜂群之间传播。这些活动可能会导致螨虫水平升高，但导致冬季蜂群损失的主要决定因素——DWV 种群的变化尚未确定。在相互的研究中，我们调查了去除螨虫或获得螨虫对 DWV 种群的影响。当从严重感染的蜂群中去除螨虫时，病毒载量会显著且迅速降低。相反，将没有经验的蜂群安置在有螨虫的蜂场中，会导致螨虫的获得以及病毒种群的相应变化。无论滴度如何，我们都观察到了近克隆和高度分化的病毒种群，这表明变化是随机的，且具有蜂群特异性。我们的研究结果对在全面或局部实施 控制计划的地区的策略结果具有重要意义。
