Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 26;14(1):25531. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-76399-6.
Varroa destructor is one of the greatest threats to Apis mellifera worldwide and if left untreated will kill a colony in less than three years. A Varroa-resistant population from Gotland, Sweden, has managed to survive for 25 years with little to no Varroa treatment by reducing the mite's reproductive success. The underlying mechanisms of this trait is currently not known, though previous research indicates that it is the honey bee brood, and not adult bee influence, that contributes to this phenotype. As the mite's own reproduction is synchronized with the brood's development though the interception of brood pheromones, it is possible that a change in pheromone profile would disrupt the mite's reproductive timing. To investigate this, we characterized the brood ester pheromone (BEP) profile of our resistant Gotland population compared to a non-resistant control. This was done by extracting and analyzing key cuticular compounds of the BEP using gas chromatography. A significant difference was found immediately after brood capping, indicating a divergence in their pheromonal production at this time point. This is an important step to understanding the mechanisms of the Gotland population's Varroa-resistance and contributes to our global understanding of Varroa destructor infestation and survival.
瓦螨是全世界对蜜蜂的最大威胁之一，如果不加以治疗，一个蜂群将在不到三年的时间内死亡。瑞典哥特兰的一个具有抗螨性的种群在几乎没有瓦螨治疗的情况下成功存活了 25 年，通过降低螨虫的繁殖成功率来实现。目前尚不清楚这种特性的潜在机制，但之前的研究表明，是蜜蜂幼虫而不是成年蜜蜂的影响导致了这种表型。由于螨虫自身的繁殖与幼虫的发育同步，通过拦截幼虫信息素来实现，因此改变信息素的特征可能会打乱螨虫的繁殖时间。为了研究这一点，我们对具有抗性的哥特兰种群与非抗性对照种群的幼虫信息素（BEP）特征进行了描述。这是通过使用气相色谱法提取和分析 BEP 的关键表皮化合物来完成的。在封盖后不久就发现了显著差异，表明此时它们的信息素产生出现了分歧。这是理解哥特兰种群抗螨性机制的重要一步，有助于我们全面了解瓦螨的侵害和生存。
