Dataset Information

Colonisation Patterns of Nosema ceranae in the Azores Archipelago.

ABSTRACT: Nosema ceranae is a highly prevalent pathogen of Apis mellifera, which is distributed worldwide. However, there may still exist isolated areas that remain free of N. ceranae. Herein, we used molecular tools to survey the Azores to detect N. ceranae and unravel its colonisation patterns. To that end, we sampled 474 colonies from eight islands in 2014/2015 and 91 from four islands in 2020. The findings revealed that N. ceranae was not only present but also the dominant species in the Azores. In 2014/2015, N. apis was rare and N. ceranae prevalence varied between 2.7% in São Jorge and 50.7% in Pico. In 2020, N. ceranae prevalence increased significantly (p < 0.001) in Terceira and São Jorge also showing higher infection levels. The spatiotemporal patterns suggest that N. ceranae colonised the archipelago recently, and it rapidly spread across other islands, where at least two independent introductions might have occurred. Flores and Santa Maria have escaped the N. ceranae invasion, and it is remarkable that Santa Maria is also free of Varroa destructor, which makes it one of the last places in Europe where the honey bee remains naive to these two major biotic stressors.

SUBMITTER: Lopes AR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9323992 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Colonisation Patterns of <i>Nosema ceranae</i> in the Azores Archipelago.

Lopes Ana Rita AR Martín-Hernández Raquel R Higes Mariano M Segura Sara Kafafi SK Henriques Dora D Pinto Maria Alice MA

Veterinary sciences 20220625 7

Nosema ceranae is a highly prevalent pathogen of Apis mellifera, which is distributed worldwide. However, there may still exist isolated areas that remain free of N. ceranae. Herein, we used molecular tools to survey the Azores to detect N. ceranae and unravel its colonisation patterns. To that end, we sampled 474 colonies from eight islands in 2014/2015 and 91 from four islands in 2020. The findings revealed that N. ceranae was not only present but also the dominant species in the Azores. In 20 ...[more]

PMID: 35878337

Similar Datasets

Project description:Apis cerana is the original host for Nosema ceranae, a widespread fungal parasite resulting in honey bee nosemosis, which leads to severe losses to the apiculture industry throughout the world. However, knowledge of N. ceranae infecting eastern honey bees is extremely limited. Currently, the mechanism underlying N. ceranae infection is still largely unknown. Based on our previously gained high-quality transcriptome datasets derived from N. ceranae spores (NcCK group), N. ceranae infecting Apis cerana cerana workers at seven days post inoculation (dpi) and 10 dpi (NcT1 and NcT2 groups), comparative transcriptomic investigation was conducted in this work, with a focus on virulence factor-associated differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Microscopic observation showed that the midguts of A. c. cerana workers were effectively infected after inoculation with clean spores of N. ceranae. In total, 1411, 604, and 38 DEGs were identified from NcCK vs. NcT1, NcCK vs. NcT2, and NcT1 vs. NcT2 comparison groups. Venn analysis showed that 10 upregulated genes and nine downregulated ones were shared by the aforementioned comparison groups. The GO category indicated that these DEGs were involved in a series of functional terms relevant to biological process, cellular component, and molecular function such as metabolic process, cell part, and catalytic activity. Additionally, KEGG pathway analysis suggested that the DEGs were engaged in an array of pathways of great importance such as metabolic pathway, glycolysis, and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Furthermore, expression clustering analysis demonstrated that the majority of genes encoding virulence factors such as ricin B lectins and polar tube proteins displayed apparent upregulation, whereas a few virulence factor-associated genes such as hexokinase gene and 6-phosphofructokinase gene presented downregulation during the fungal infection. Finally, the expression trend of 14 DEGs was confirmed by RT-qPCR, validating the reliability of our transcriptome datasets. These results together demonstrated that an overall alteration of the transcriptome of N. ceranae occurred during the infection of A. c. cerana workers, and most of the virulence factor-related genes were induced to activation to promote the fungal invasion. Our findings not only lay a foundation for clarifying the molecular mechanism underlying N. ceranae infection of eastern honey bee workers and microsporidian-host interaction.

Dataset Information

Colonisation Patterns of Nosema ceranae in the Azores Archipelago.

Publications

Colonisation Patterns of <i>Nosema ceranae</i> in the Azores Archipelago.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets