40
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      A sting in the spit: widespread cross‐infection of multiple RNA viruses across wild and managed bees

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Summary

          1. Declining populations of bee pollinators are a cause of concern, with major repercussions for biodiversity loss and food security. RNA viruses associated with honeybees represent a potential threat to other insect pollinators, but the extent of this threat is poorly understood.

          2. This study aims to attain a detailed understanding of the current and ongoing risk of emerging infectious disease ( EID) transmission between managed and wild pollinator species across a wide range of RNA viruses.

          3. Within a structured large‐scale national survey across 26 independent sites, we quantify the prevalence and pathogen loads of multiple RNA viruses in co‐occurring managed honeybee ( Apis mellifera) and wild bumblebee ( Bombus spp.) populations. We then construct models that compare virus prevalence between wild and managed pollinators.

          4. Multiple RNA viruses associated with honeybees are widespread in sympatric wild bumblebee populations. Virus prevalence in honeybees is a significant predictor of virus prevalence in bumblebees, but we remain cautious in speculating over the principle direction of pathogen transmission. We demonstrate species‐specific differences in prevalence, indicating significant variation in disease susceptibility or tolerance. Pathogen loads within individual bumblebees may be high and in the case of at least one RNA virus, prevalence is higher in wild bumblebees than in managed honeybee populations.

          5. Our findings indicate widespread transmission of RNA viruses between managed and wild bee pollinators, pointing to an interconnected network of potential disease pressures within and among pollinator species. In the context of the biodiversity crisis, our study emphasizes the importance of targeting a wide range of pathogens and defining host associations when considering potential drivers of population decline.

          Related collections

          Most cited references16

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Historical changes in northeastern US bee pollinators related to shared ecological traits.

          Pollinators such as bees are essential to the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. However, despite concerns about a global pollinator crisis, long-term data on the status of bee species are limited. We present a long-term study of relative rates of change for an entire regional bee fauna in the northeastern United States, based on >30,000 museum records representing 438 species. Over a 140-y period, aggregate native species richness weakly decreased, but richness declines were significant only for the genus Bombus. Of 187 native species analyzed individually, only three declined steeply, all of these in the genus Bombus. However, there were large shifts in community composition, as indicated by 56% of species showing significant changes in relative abundance over time. Traits associated with a declining relative abundance include small dietary and phenological breadth and large body size. In addition, species with lower latitudinal range boundaries are increasing in relative abundance, a finding that may represent a response to climate change. We show that despite marked increases in human population density and large changes in anthropogenic land use, aggregate native species richness declines were modest outside of the genus Bombus. At the same time, we find that certain ecological traits are associated with declines in relative abundance. These results should help target conservation efforts focused on maintaining native bee abundance and diversity and therefore the important ecosystems services that they provide.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: found
            Is Open Access

            Temporal Analysis of the Honey Bee Microbiome Reveals Four Novel Viruses and Seasonal Prevalence of Known Viruses, Nosema, and Crithidia

            Honey bees (Apis mellifera) play a critical role in global food production as pollinators of numerous crops. Recently, honey bee populations in the United States, Canada, and Europe have suffered an unexplained increase in annual losses due to a phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Epidemiological analysis of CCD is confounded by a relative dearth of bee pathogen field studies. To identify what constitutes an abnormal pathophysiological condition in a honey bee colony, it is critical to have characterized the spectrum of exogenous infectious agents in healthy hives over time. We conducted a prospective study of a large scale migratory bee keeping operation using high-frequency sampling paired with comprehensive molecular detection methods, including a custom microarray, qPCR, and ultra deep sequencing. We established seasonal incidence and abundance of known viruses, Nosema sp., Crithidia mellificae, and bacteria. Ultra deep sequence analysis further identified four novel RNA viruses, two of which were the most abundant observed components of the honey bee microbiome (∼1011 viruses per honey bee). Our results demonstrate episodic viral incidence and distinct pathogen patterns between summer and winter time-points. Peak infection of common honey bee viruses and Nosema occurred in the summer, whereas levels of the trypanosomatid Crithidia mellificae and Lake Sinai virus 2, a novel virus, peaked in January.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: found
              Is Open Access

              RNA Viruses in Hymenopteran Pollinators: Evidence of Inter-Taxa Virus Transmission via Pollen and Potential Impact on Non-Apis Hymenopteran Species

              Although overall pollinator populations have declined over the last couple of decades, the honey bee (Apis mellifera) malady, colony collapse disorder (CCD), has caused major concern in the agricultural community. Among honey bee pathogens, RNA viruses are emerging as a serious threat and are suspected as major contributors to CCD. Recent detection of these viral species in bumble bees suggests a possible wider environmental spread of these viruses with potential broader impact. It is therefore vital to study the ecology and epidemiology of these viruses in the hymenopteran pollinator community as a whole. We studied the viral distribution in honey bees, in their pollen loads, and in other non-Apis hymenopteran pollinators collected from flowering plants in Pennsylvania, New York, and Illinois in the United States. Viruses in the samples were detected using reverse transcriptase-PCR and confirmed by sequencing. For the first time, we report the molecular detection of picorna-like RNA viruses (deformed wing virus, sacbrood virus and black queen cell virus) in pollen pellets collected directly from forager bees. Pollen pellets from several uninfected forager bees were detected with virus, indicating that pollen itself may harbor viruses. The viruses in the pollen and honey stored in the hive were demonstrated to be infective, with the queen becoming infected and laying infected eggs after these virus-contaminated foods were given to virus-free colonies. These viruses were detected in eleven other non-Apis hymenopteran species, ranging from many solitary bees to bumble bees and wasps. This finding further expands the viral host range and implies a possible deeper impact on the health of our ecosystem. Phylogenetic analyses support that these viruses are disseminating freely among the pollinators via the flower pollen itself. Notably, in cases where honey bee apiaries affected by CCD harbored honey bees with Israeli Acute Paralysis virus (IAPV), nearby non-Apis hymenopteran pollinators also had IAPV, while those near apiaries without IAPV did not. In containment greenhouse experiments, IAPV moved from infected honey bees to bumble bees and from infected bumble bees to honey bees within a week, demonstrating that the viruses could be transmitted from one species to another. This study adds to our present understanding of virus epidemiology and may help explain bee disease patterns and pollinator population decline in general.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                J Anim Ecol
                J Anim Ecol
                10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2656
                JANE
                The Journal of Animal Ecology
                John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Hoboken )
                0021-8790
                1365-2656
                03 March 2015
                May 2015
                : 84
                : 3 ( doiID: 10.1111/jane.2015.84.issue-3 )
                : 615-624
                Affiliations
                [ 1 ]School of Biological Sciences MBC Queen's University Belfast Belfast BT9 7BLUK
                [ 2 ]Institute of Biology Free University Berlin Schwendenerstr. 1 14195 BerlinGermany
                [ 3 ] Department for Materials and EnvironmentBAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing Unter den Eichen 87 12205 BerlinGermany
                [ 4 ]School of Biological Sciences Royal Holloway University of London Egham TW20 OEXUK
                [ 5 ]IST Austria (Institute of Science and Technology Austria) 3400 KlosterneuburgAustria
                [ 6 ]Institute for Biology, Martin‐Luther‐University Halle‐Wittenberg Hoher Weg 8 06120 Halle (Saale)Germany
                [ 7 ]German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e 04103 LeipzigGermany
                Author notes
                [*] [* ]Correspondence author. E‐mail: dino.mcmahon@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                JANE12345
                10.1111/1365-2656.12345
                4832299
                25646973
                54d15f2e-17de-40ff-8628-1de2887833a5
                © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

                This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 06 October 2014
                : 18 January 2015
                Page count
                Pages: 10
                Funding
                Funded by: Insect Pollinators Initiative
                Award ID: BB/1000100/1
                Award ID: BB/I000151/1
                Funded by: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
                Funded by: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Natural Environment Research Council
                Funded by: The Scottish Government
                Funded by: The Wellcome Trust
                Categories
                Standard Paper
                Parasite and Disease Ecology
                Custom metadata
                2.0
                jane12345
                May 2015
                Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_NLMPMC version:4.8.6 mode:remove_FC converted:22.04.2016

                Ecology
                apis,bombus,decline,pathogen,spillover
                Ecology
                apis, bombus, decline, pathogen, spillover

                Comments

                Comment on this article