Title |
Elevated virulence of an emerging viral genotype as a driver of honeybee loss
|
---|---|
Published in |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, June 2016
|
DOI | 10.1098/rspb.2016.0811 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Dino P. McMahon, Myrsini E. Natsopoulou, Vincent Doublet, Matthias Fürst, Silvio Weging, Mark J. F. Brown, Andreas Gogol-Döring, Robert J. Paxton |
Abstract |
Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) have contributed significantly to the current biodiversity crisis, leading to widespread epidemics and population loss. Owing to genetic variation in pathogen virulence, a complete understanding of species decline requires the accurate identification and characterization of EIDs. We explore this issue in the Western honeybee, where increasing mortality of populations in the Northern Hemisphere has caused major concern. Specifically, we investigate the importance of genetic identity of the main suspect in mortality, deformed wing virus (DWV), in driving honeybee loss. Using laboratory experiments and a systematic field survey, we demonstrate that an emerging DWV genotype (DWV-B) is more virulent than the established DWV genotype (DWV-A) and is widespread in the landscape. Furthermore, we show in a simple model that colonies infected with DWV-B collapse sooner than colonies infected with DWV-A. We also identify potential for rapid DWV evolution by revealing extensive genome-wide recombination in vivo The emergence of DWV-B in naive honeybee populations, including via recombination with DWV-A, could be of significant ecological and economic importance. Our findings emphasize that knowledge of pathogen genetic identity and diversity is critical to understanding drivers of species decline. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 4 | 20% |
Germany | 3 | 15% |
New Zealand | 2 | 10% |
United States | 1 | 5% |
Brazil | 1 | 5% |
South Africa | 1 | 5% |
Unknown | 8 | 40% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 11 | 55% |
Scientists | 9 | 45% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Germany | 2 | <1% |
Serbia | 1 | <1% |
United States | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 251 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 47 | 18% |
Researcher | 46 | 18% |
Student > Bachelor | 32 | 13% |
Student > Master | 30 | 12% |
Other | 11 | 4% |
Other | 38 | 15% |
Unknown | 51 | 20% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 119 | 47% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 32 | 13% |
Environmental Science | 12 | 5% |
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 8 | 3% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 2% |
Other | 17 | 7% |
Unknown | 63 | 25% |