Abstract
Deformed wing virus and Varroa destructor virus-1 have a high percentage of nucleotide identity and might be considered as closely related viruses: DWV genotype A (DWV-A) and DWV genotype B (DWV-B) respectively. They have been implicated in overwinter colony losses in association with Varroa destructor infestations that vectored both DWV variants. In this study, we performed experimental inoculations of honeybee pupae with viral suspensions prepared from honeybee heads naturally infected by either DWV-A or DWV-B. Two outcomes were observed: the inoculated pupae exhibited either higher rates of bees with deformed wings or higher mortality rates than control bees. For both DWV variants, the viral loads quantified in the head of inoculated bees were significantly greater than those in control bees (p < 0.01). These outcomes were not correlated to the virus genotype (DWV-A or DWV-B) detected in the inocula by RT-quantitative PCR targeting the VP3 coding sequence (RT-qPCR). However, the highest mortality rates found in our study were correlated with an increase in sacbrood virus (SBV) load. Despite the fact that only either DWV-A or DWV-B was expected to be inoculated, we observed increased mortality in honeybees that were infected with both DWV and SBV.
Highlights
Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Varroa destructor virus-1 (VDV-1) are two related viruses belonging to the same viral cloud of DWV variants: DWV genotype A (DWV-A) and DWV genotype B (DWV-B) respectively (de Miranda et al 2010; Lanzi et al 2006; Ongus et al 2004)
Honeybee colony selection and sampling of pupae In November 2017, three healthy colonies were selected for their low viral loads of acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), sacbrood virus (SBV), DWV-A and DWV-B, measured from a pool of 10 adult honeybees by quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) (Schurr et al 2017; Schurr et al 2019)
BQCV, DWV-A, DWV-B, and SBV were quantified from a pool of 10 foragers collected at the end of the experiment
Summary
Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Varroa destructor virus-1 (VDV-1) are two related viruses (family Iflaviridae ; genus Iflavirus ) belonging to the same viral cloud of DWV variants: DWV genotype A (DWV-A) and DWV genotype B (DWV-B) respectively (de Miranda et al 2010; Lanzi et al 2006; Ongus et al 2004). Both variants have been detected in honeybee colonies on several continents (Martin et al 2012; Mordecai et al 2016a; Strauss et al 2013). Studies have shown that DWV replication in honeybees is stimulated by co-exposure to pesticides affecting honeybee immunity (DeGrandiHoffman et al 2013; Di Prisco et al 2013)
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