Widespread dispersal of the microsporidian Nosema ceranae, an emergent pathogen of the western honey bee, Apis mellifera

Klee, Julia; Besana, Andrea M.; Genersch, Elke; Gisder, Sebastian; Nanetti, Antonio; Tam, Dinh Quyet; Chinh, Tong Xuan; Puerta, Francisco; Ruz, Jose Maria; Kryger, Per; Message, Dejair; Hatjina, Fani; Korpela, Seppo; Fries, Ingemar; Paxton, Robert J.

doi:10.1016/j.jip.2007.02.014

Research article2007Peer reviewed

Widespread dispersal of the microsporidian Nosema ceranae, an emergent pathogen of the western honey bee, Apis mellifera

Klee, Julia; Besana, Andrea M.; Genersch, Elke; Gisder, Sebastian; Nanetti, Antonio; Tam, Dinh Quyet; Chinh, Tong Xuan; Puerta, Francisco; Ruz, Jose Maria; Kryger, Per; Message, Dejair; Hatjina, Fani; Korpela, Seppo; Fries, Ingemar; Paxton, Robert J.

Abstract

The economically most important honey bee species, Apis mellifera, was formerly considered to be parasitized by one microsporidian, Nosema apis. Recently, [Higes, M., Martin, R., Meana, A., 2006. Nosema ceranae, a new microsporidian parasite in honeybees in Europe, J. Invertebr. Pathol. 92, 93-95] and [Huang, W.-F., Jiang, J.-H., Chen, Y.-W., Wang, C.-H., 2007. A Nosema ceranae isolate from the honeybee Apis mellifera. Apidologie 38, 30-37] used 16S (SSU) rRNA gene sequences to demonstrate the presence of Nosema ceranae in A. mellifera from Spain and Taiwan, respectively. We developed a rapid method to differentiate between N. apis and N. ceranae based on PCR-RFLPs of partial SSU rRNA. The reliability of the method was confirmed by sequencing 29 isolates from across the world (N = 9 isolates gave N. apis RFLPs and sequences, N = 20 isolates gave N. ceranae RFLPs and sequences; 100%, correct classification). We then employed the method to analyze N = 115 isolates from across the world. Our data, combined with N = 36 additional published sequences demonstrate that (i) N. ceranae most likely jumped host to A. mellifera, probably within the last decade, (ii) that host colonies and individuals may be co-infected by both microsporidia species, and that (iii) N. ceranae is now a parasite of A. mellifera across most of the world. The rapid, long-distance dispersal of N. ceranae is likely due to transport of infected honey bees by commercial or hobbyist beekeepers. We discuss the implications of this emergent pathogen for worldwide beekeeping. (c) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords

microsporidia; Nosema apis; exotic; small subunit ribosomal RNA gene; 16S rRNA; PCR; RFLP; beekeeping

Published in

Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
2007, volume: 96, number: 1, pages: 45667
Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE

SLU Authors

Fries, Ingemar
- Department of Entomology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation
Animal and Dairy Science
Veterinary Science

Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2007.02.014

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/16038