Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Beaverlodge Research Farm, P.O. Box 29, Beaverlodge, AB, T0H 0C0, Canada.
Sci Rep. 2023 Dec 18;13(1):22515. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-49189-9.
Nosema ceranae and Lotmaria passim are two commonly encountered digestive tract parasites of the honey bee that have been associated with colony losses in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Though honey bees can be co-infected with these parasites, we still lack basic information regarding how they impact bee health at the individual and colony level. Using locally-isolated parasite strains, we investigated the effect of single and co-infections of these parasites on individual honey bee survival, and their responsiveness to sucrose. Results showed that a single N. ceranae infection is more virulent than both single L. passim infections and co-infections. Honey bees singly infected with N. ceranae reached < 50% survival eight days earlier than those inoculated with L. passim alone, and four days earlier than those inoculated with both parasites. Honey bees infected with either one, or both, parasites had increased responsiveness to sucrose compared to uninfected bees, which could correspond to higher levels of hunger and increased energetic stress. Together, these findings suggest that N. ceranae and L. passim pose threats to bee health, and that the beekeeping industry should monitor for both parasites in an effort correlate pathogen status with changes in colony-level productivity and survival.
两型孢囊虫（Nosema ceranae）和微孢子虫（Lotmaria passim）是两种常见的蜜蜂消化道寄生虫，它们与加拿大、美国和欧洲的蜂群损失有关。尽管蜜蜂可能同时感染这两种寄生虫，但我们仍然缺乏关于它们在个体和群体层面上如何影响蜜蜂健康的基本信息。使用当地分离的寄生虫株，我们研究了这些寄生虫的单一和共同感染对个体蜜蜂存活率以及它们对蔗糖的反应的影响。结果表明，单一的两型孢囊虫感染比单一的微孢子虫感染和共同感染更为致命。单一感染两型孢囊虫的蜜蜂在 8 天内的存活率低于单独感染微孢子虫的蜜蜂，比同时感染两种寄生虫的蜜蜂早 4 天。与未感染的蜜蜂相比，感染其中一种或两种寄生虫的蜜蜂对蔗糖的反应性增加，这可能对应于更高的饥饿感和更高的能量应激。总之，这些发现表明两型孢囊虫和微孢子虫对蜜蜂健康构成威胁，养蜂业应监测这两种寄生虫，努力将病原体状况与群体层面的生产力和存活率变化相关联。
