Critical View on the Importance of Host Defense Strategies on Virus Distribution of Bee Viruses: What Can We Learn from SARS-CoV-2 Variants?

Niels Piot,Guy Smagghe

doi:10.3390/v14030503

Abstract

Bees, both wild and domesticated ones, are hosts to a plethora of viruses, with most of them infecting a wide range of bee species and genera. Although viral discovery and research on bee viruses date back over 50 years, the last decade is marked by a surge of new studies, new virus discoveries, and reports on viral transmission in and between bee species. This steep increase in research on bee viruses was mainly initiated by the global reports on honeybee colony losses and the worldwide wild bee decline, where viruses are regarded as one of the main drivers. While the knowledge gained on bee viruses has significantly progressed in a short amount of time, we believe that integration of host defense strategies and their effect on viral dynamics in the multi-host viral landscape are important aspects that are currently still missing. With the large epidemiological dataset generated over the last two years on the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the role of these defense mechanisms in shaping viral dynamics has become eminent. Integration of these dynamics in a multi-host system would not only greatly aid the understanding of viral dynamics as a driver of wild bee decline, but we believe bee pollinators and their viruses provide an ideal system to study the multi-host viruses and their epidemiology.

Highlights

Bees, both wild and domesticated ones, are hosts to a plethora of viruses, with most of them infecting a wide range of bee species and genera
One does not need to go that far in history for such examples as the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is marked by several super-spreader events, where people with no or very mild symptoms infect a disproportional amount of people [6,7]
Studies on species differences in viral defense strategies of bees are currently still lacking, yet we believe this would greatly benefit our understanding of multi-host viral dynamics, as we elaborate below

Summary

Viral Defense Strategies of the Host and Their Implications on Viral Dynamics

While viral infections may sometimes wreak havoc on host populations, often triggered by a host switch, they are indispensable components of a well-functioning ecosystem [1,2]. Viral resistance has been investigated for a long time in animal studies, while viral tolerance has only seeped in during the last decade mainly fueled by research from plant pathogens, where tolerance research has a longer history Both defense strategies benefit the host’s fitness but have different outcomes for viral fitness. Resistant hosts generally reduce the viral prevalence in the population, whereas tolerant hosts mostly have a positive impact on viral prevalence [4,5] The latter can be induced by so called super-spreaders. One does not need to go that far in history for such examples as the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is marked by several super-spreader events, where people with no or very mild symptoms infect a disproportional amount of people [6,7] While these examples are all in a single host species, Homo sapiens Studies on species differences in viral defense strategies of bees are currently still lacking, yet we believe this would greatly benefit our understanding of multi-host viral dynamics, as we elaborate below

Bee Pollinators as Study System for Multi-Host Viral Dynamics

Viruses and Their Variants

Conclusions