Abstract
Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a persistent pathogen of European honey bees and the major contributor to overwintering colony losses. The prevalence of DWV in honey bees has led to significant concerns about spillover of the virus to other pollinating species. Bumble bees are both a major group of wild and commercially-reared pollinators. Several studies have reported pathogen spillover of DWV from honey bees to bumble bees, but evidence of a sustained viral infection characterized by virus replication and accumulation has yet to be demonstrated. Here we investigate the infectivity and transmission of DWV in bumble bees using the buff-tailed bumble bee Bombus terrestris as a model. We apply a reverse genetics approach combined with controlled laboratory conditions to detect and monitor DWV infection. A novel reverse genetics system for three representative DWV variants, including the two master variants of DWV—type A and B—was used. Our results directly confirm DWV replication in bumble bees but also demonstrate striking resistance to infection by certain transmission routes. Bumble bees may support DWV replication but it is not clear how infection could occur under natural environmental conditions.
Highlights
Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a persistent pathogen of European honey bees and the major contributor to overwintering colony losses
It was reported that a DWV complex containing both DWV-A and -B is infectious when fed at high concentrations—109 GE of virus per bee
Using reverse genetic (RG)-derived DWV inocula we address the question of DWV pathogenesis and likely transmission routes in Bombus terrestris at both the individual and colony level
Summary
Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a persistent pathogen of European honey bees and the major contributor to overwintering colony losses. The prevalence of DWV in honey bees has led to significant concerns about spillover of the virus to other pollinating species Bumble bees are both a major group of wild and commercially-reared pollinators. Several studies have reported pathogen spillover of DWV from honey bees to bumble bees, but evidence of a sustained viral infection characterized by virus replication and accumulation has yet to be demonstrated. DWV RNA has been detected in many insects sharing the environment with managed honey bees, including Asian bee species, solitary bees, bumble bees, wasps, cockroaches and ants[6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21]. It was reported that a DWV complex containing both DWV-A and -B is infectious when fed at high concentrations—109 GE (genome equivalents) of virus per bee
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