국내 꿀벌에서 Lotmaria passim 검출

Abstract

Apis mellifera, also known as the western honey bee, is one of the most important pollinators of flowering plants, including many agricultural crops. In Korea, the number of honey bee pollinations have been fluctuating in recent years. Several honey bee parasites have been presumed as probable causes of decline. Lotmaria passim is the most virulent trypanosome parasite which usually infects the A. mellifera intestine. After first report in 1911, L. passim widely present in South America and Europe including Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Spain. However, the presence of this virulent trypanosome is not reported in Korea before. The aim of the present work was to provide the evidence of detection of the L. passim from A. mellifera in Korean agriculture. A. mellifera from three sites; Gwangju, Yangpyung and Toechon was ground with liquid nitrogen and mRNA was extracted. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to investigate the presence of L. passim nucleic acid. The amplification products were also sequenced and analyzed. L. passim was detected from honey bee in Yangpyung. PCR products were sequenced and the nucleotide sequence was aligned to the complete L. passim sequence from NCBI database, and the sequence were revealed 100% identity. The honey bee parasitic trypanosome L. passim was found in the Korea honey bee first time and should be considered as a potential contributor of honey bee infectious disease in Korea.