Abstract
Pathogen spillover represents an important cause of biodiversity decline. For wild bee species such as bumblebees, many of which are in decline, correlational data point towards viral spillover from managed honeybees as a potential cause. Yet, impacts of these viruses on wild bees are rarely evaluated. Here, in a series of highly controlled laboratory infection assays with well-characterized viral inocula, we show that three viral types isolated from honeybees (deformed wing virus genotype A, deformed wing virus genotype B and black queen cell virus) readily replicate within hosts of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. Impacts of these honeybee-derived viruses - either injected or fed - on the mortality of B. terrestris workers were, however, negligible and probably dependent on host condition. Our results highlight the potential threat of viral spillover from honeybees to novel wild bee species, though they also underscore the importance of additional studies on this and other wild bee species under field-realistic conditions to evaluate whether pathogen spillover has a negative impact on wild bee individuals and population fitness.
Highlights
A wealth of evidence points to massive biodiversity loss in the Anthropocene, resulting in range declines, local extirpations and royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos R
black queen cell virus (BQCV), deformed wing virus (DWV)-A and DWV genotype B (DWV-B), resulted in rapid honeybee mortality; which was significantly faster than control (Cox proportional hazard: BQCV, Exp. (β) = 562.259, p < 0.001; DWV genotype A (DWV-A): Exp. (β) = 2.489, p = 0.006; DWV-B: Exp. (β) = 4.461, p < 0.001; electronic supplementary material, table S2)
We show that B. terrestris is a competent host for BQCV, DWV-A and DWV-B, suggesting that spillover from honeybees is a potential threat for this and probably other wild bee species
Summary
A wealth of evidence points to massive biodiversity loss in the Anthropocene, resulting in range declines, local extirpations and royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos R. Though generally considered mobile and numerous, mounting evidence 2 demonstrates that many insect species and communities are in decline [2,3,4], with potential consequences for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems [5]. Bees are a particular focus of concern because of their importance in pollination [6], with strong support for range decline and species loss in temperate regions of the world [7,8,9]. As for the fate of other insects, are thought to revolve around the fragmentation, degradation and loss of habitat, intensification of land use (including pesticides) and climate change as well as, potentially, pathogens [10,11,12]
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