Abstract
Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) is an important viral disease of adult bees which induces significant losses in honey bee colonies. Despite comprehensive research, only limited data is available from experimental infection for this virus. In the present study winter worker bees were experimentally infected in three different experiments. Bees were first inoculated per os (p/o) or per cuticle (p/c) with CBPV field strain M92/2010 in order to evaluate the virus replication in individual bees. In addition, potential synergistic effects of co-infection with CBPV and Nosema ceranae (N. ceranae) on bees were investigated. In total 558 individual bees were inoculated in small cages and data were analyzed using quantitative real time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR). Our results revealed successful replication of CBPV after p/o inoculation, while it was less effective when bees were inoculated p/c. Dead bees harbored about 1,000 times higher copy numbers of the virus than live bees. Co-infection of workers with CBPV and N. ceranae using either method of virus inoculation (p/c or p/o) showed increased replication ability for CBPV. In the third experiment the effect of inoculation on bee mortality was evaluated. The highest level of bee mortality was observed in a group of bees inoculated with CBPV p/o, followed by a group of workers simultaneously inoculated with CBPV and N. ceranae p/o, followed by the group inoculated with CBPV p/c and the group with only N. ceranae p/o. The experimental infection with CBPV showed important differences after p/o or p/c inoculation in winter bees, while simultaneous infection with CBPV and N. ceranae suggesting a synergistic effect after inoculation.
Highlights
The honeybee, Apis mellifera L., is a well-known honey producer and plays a major role in agriculture by assisting in the pollination of a wide variety of crops
The present study describes the results of three experimental infection of individual winter worker bees with Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) and co-infection with CBPV and N. ceranae spores
The highest level of bee mortality was observed in group of bees inoculated with CBPV p/o, confirming that this virus is an important pathogen for adult bee
Summary
The honeybee, Apis mellifera L., is a well-known honey producer and plays a major role in agriculture by assisting in the pollination of a wide variety of crops. Knowledge of the spreading mechanism and synergistic effect of different pathogens within the hives is crucial for understanding bee disease dynamics [4–6]. Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) causes a contagious disease of adult honey bees that manifests as chronic paralysis syndrome leading to death of infected bees [7,8]. The CBPV was first isolated in 1963 and infection may negatively affect any colony in the apiary, weak or strong, resulting in thousands of dead individuals in front of the hives [7,8]. Symptomatic bees are not able to fly, often crawl on the ground and eventually die in front of the colony. They may have bloated abdomens due to distension of the honey sac and huddle together on top of the bee cluster.
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