Department of Translational Physiology, Infectiology and Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Vet Res. 2024 Sep 27;55(1):118. doi: 10.1186/s13567-024-01382-y.
Honey bees are rapidly declining, which poses a significant threat to our environment and agriculture industry. These vital insects face a disease complex believed to be caused by a combination of parasites, viruses, pesticides, and nutritional deficiencies. However, the real aetiology is still enigmatic. Due to the conventional analysis methods, we still lack complete insights into the honey bee virome and the presence of pathogenic bacteria. To fill this knowledge gap, we employed third-generation nanopore metagenomic sequencing on honey bee haemolymph to monitor the presence of pathogens over almost a year. This study provides valuable insights into the changes in bacterial and viral loads within honey bee colonies. We identified different pathogens in the honey bee haemolymph, which are not included in honey bee screenings. These pathogens comprise the Apis mellifera filamentous virus, Apis rhabdoviruses, and various bacteria such as Frischella sp. and Arsenophonus sp. Furthermore, a sharp contrast was observed between young and old bees. Our research proposes that transgenerational immune priming may play a role in shaping infection patterns in honey bees. We observed a significant increase in pathogen loads in the spring, followed by a notable decrease in pathogen presence during the summer and autumn months. However, certain pathogens seem to be able to evade this priming effect, making them particularly intriguing as potential factors contributing to mortality. In the future, we aim to expand our research on honey bee transgenerational immune priming and investigate its potential in natural settings. This knowledge will ultimately enhance honey bee health and decrease colony mortality.
蜜蜂数量正在迅速减少，这对我们的环境和农业产业构成了重大威胁。这些重要的昆虫面临着一种疾病综合体，据信这种疾病是由寄生虫、病毒、杀虫剂和营养缺乏等多种因素共同引起的。然而，其真正的病因仍然扑朔迷离。由于传统的分析方法，我们仍然缺乏对蜜蜂病毒组和致病细菌存在的全面了解。为了填补这一知识空白，我们采用第三代纳米孔宏基因组测序技术对蜜蜂血淋巴进行了近一年的监测，以了解病原体的存在情况。这项研究为我们深入了解蜜蜂群体中细菌和病毒载量的变化提供了有价值的信息。我们在蜜蜂血淋巴中发现了一些未包含在蜜蜂筛查中的不同病原体，其中包括 Apis mellifera 丝状病毒、Apis rhabdoviruses 以及各种细菌，如 Frischella sp. 和 Arsenophonus sp. 此外，我们还观察到年轻蜜蜂和老年蜜蜂之间存在明显的差异。我们的研究表明，跨代免疫启动可能在塑造蜜蜂感染模式方面发挥作用。我们观察到春季病原体载量显著增加，随后夏季和秋季病原体存在明显减少。然而，某些病原体似乎能够逃避这种启动效应，这使得它们成为导致蜜蜂死亡率上升的潜在因素之一，这一点尤为有趣。未来，我们计划扩大对蜜蜂跨代免疫启动的研究，并在自然环境中研究其潜在作用。这一知识将最终增强蜜蜂的健康，降低蜂群的死亡率。
