TY - JOUR
T1 - Global honey bee viral landscape altered by a parasitic mite
AU - Martin, Stephen J.
AU - Highfield, Andrea C.
AU - Brettell, Laura
AU - Villalobos, Ethel M.
AU - Budge, Giles E.
AU - Powell, Michelle
AU - Nikaido, Scott
AU - Schroeder, Declan C.
PY - 2012/6/8
Y1 - 2012/6/8
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
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U2 - 10.1126/science.1220941
DO - 10.1126/science.1220941
M3 - Article
C2 - 22679096
AN - SCOPUS:84861961742
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 336
SP - 1304
EP - 1306
JO - Science
JF - Science
IS - 6086
ER -