Abstract
There is an increasing global trend of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) affecting a wide range of species, including honey bees. The global epidemic of the single stranded RNA Deformed wing virus (DWV), driven by the spread of Varroa destructor has been well documented. However, DWV is just one of many insect RNA viruses which infect a wide range of hosts. Here we report the full genome sequence of a novel Iflavirus named Moku virus (MV), discovered in the social wasp Vespula pensylvanica collected in Hawaii. The novel genome is 10,056 nucleotides long and encodes a polyprotein of 3050 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis showed that MV is most closely related to Slow bee paralysis virus (SBPV), which is highly virulent in honey bees but rarely detected. Worryingly, MV sequences were also detected in honey bees and Varroa from the same location, suggesting that MV can also infect other hymenopteran and Acari hosts.
Highlights
There is an increasing global trend of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) affecting a wide range of species, including honey bees
The spread of Varroa from Asia to the rest of the world was mirrored by the spread of Deformed wing virus (DWV) throughout the European bee populations[2] and introduced a new transmission route for the virus, leading to selection of a virulent strain, DWV type A, which replicates to high levels and results in colony collapse[1]
The ecological role of V. pensylvanica as an invasive species with widespread geographic distribution, abundant numbers in some areas and generalist feeding preferences including its use of floral resources[14], make it important to investigate whether or not it could act as a reservoir for a new or emerging honey bee virus
Summary
A blastx search against the NCBI protein database revealed the polyprotein of MV shared 46% amino acid similarity to slow bee paralysis virus (SBPV) and phylogenetic analysis confirmed that Moku virus (MV) lies within the genus Iflavirus (Fig. 1). Background genomic variation (likely due to mutations created during genome replication) can be seen in the reads that represents the honey bee and Varroa MV quasispecies (Supplementary Fig. S2) This group of viruses exist as a cloud of variants[7], contigs generated by de novo assembly represent a consensus of the most dominant sequence. The detection of Moku virus in wasps, Varroa and honey bees suggests that cross-species transmission of RNA viruses is a threat to pollinator health worldwide. This is further supported by the recent discovery of a plant virus replicating in honey bees, demonstrating the host range of RNA viruses can even cross kingdoms[21]
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