Global honey bee viral landscape altered by a parasitic mite

Martin, SJ; Highfield, A; Brettell, Laura; Nikado, S; Villalobos, E; Schoder, D

Abstract

Emerging diseases are among the greatest threats to honey bees. Unfortunately, where and when
an emerging disease will appear are almost impossible to predict. The arrival of the parasitic
Varroa mite into the Hawaiian honey bee population allowed us to investigate changes in the
prevalence, load, and strain diversity of honey bee viruses. The mite increased the prevalence
of a single viral species, deformed wing virus (DWV), from ~10 to 100% within honey bee
populations, which was accompanied by a millionfold increase in viral titer and a massive reduction
in DWV diversity, leading to the predominance of a single DWV strain. Therefore, the global
spread of Varroa has selected DWV variants that have emerged to allow it to become one of the
most widely distributed and contagious insect viruses on the planet.

Citation

Martin, S., Highfield, A., Brettell, L., Nikado, S., Villalobos, E., & Schoder, D. (2012). Global honey bee viral landscape altered by a parasitic mite. Science, 336(6086), 1304-1306. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1220941

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 27, 2012
• Publication Date: Jun 8, 2012
• Deposit Date: Jan 27, 2016
• Journal: Science
• Print ISSN: 0036-8075
• Electronic ISSN: 1095-9203
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Volume: 336
• Issue: 6086
• Pages: 1304-1306
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1220941
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1220941
• Related Public URLs: http://www.sciencemag.org/
• Additional Information: Projects : Emerging viral pathogens on Hawaii