Abstract
Deformed wing virus (DWV) is the most abundant viral pathogen of honey bees and has been associated with large-scale colony losses. DWV and other bee-associated RNA viruses are generalists capable of infecting diverse hosts. Here, we used RNAseq analysis to test the hypothesis that due to the frequency of interactions, a range of apiary pest species would become infected with DWV and/or other honey bee-associated viruses. We confirmed that DWV-A was the most prevalent virus in the apiary, with genetically similar sequences circulating in the apiary pests, suggesting frequent inter-species transmission. In addition, different proportions of the three DWV master variants as indicated by BLAST analysis and genome coverage plots revealed interesting DWV-species groupings. We also observed that new genomic recombinants were formed by the DWV master variants, which are likely adapted to replicate in different host species. Species groupings also applied when considering other viruses, many of which were widespread in the apiaries. In social wasps, samples were grouped further by site, which potentially also influenced viral load. Thus, the apiary invertebrate community has the potential to act as reservoirs of honey bee-associated viruses, highlighting the importance of considering the wider community in the apiary when considering honey bee health.
Highlights
Across the globe, emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) pose a significant threat to biodiversity and health [1]
This study revealed that common apiary pests have the potential to act as reservoirs for, or could the ability of a number of viruses initially described as honey bee pathogens to infect a range of taxa be impacted by, a number of honey bee-associated viruses
Of 10 common +ssRNA viruses surveyed, Deformed wing virus (DWV) was the most common virus in honey bees and was the most prevalent virus in the apiary with full-genome coverage achieved from samples of each varroa, as expected, because it is the most prevalent virus in honey bees across the world [19] and species
Summary
Across the globe, emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) pose a significant threat to biodiversity and health [1] This has been clearly demonstrated in recent years both by the recent catastrophic decline of amphibians caused by pathogenic fungi [2] and by the cases of large-scale honey bee colony losses, a major factor in which is the spread of pathogenic viruses [3]. EIDs often occur as a consequence of human-mediated translocations of infected hosts and/or parasites and due to the close proximity of wild and domesticated hosts [1] As such the honey bee, which over the last century has been spread across the globe by humans for honey production and pollination services [4] and shares complex communities with a wide range of insect taxa [5,6,7,8], is a prime candidate to facilitate the spread of EIDs into new insect hosts. The combination of multiple pressures can Viruses 2019, 11, 397; doi:10.3390/v11050397 www.mdpi.com/journal/viruses
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