| new insights on the genetic diversity of the honeybee parasite nosema ceranae based on multilocus sequence analysis. | the microsporidian parasite nosema ceranae is a common pathogen of the western honeybee (apis mellifera) whose variable virulence could be related to its genetic polymorphism and/or its polyphenism responding to environmental cues. since the genotyping of n. ceranae based on unique marker sequences had been unsuccessful, we tested whether a multilocus approach, assessing the diversity of ten genetic markers – encoding nine proteins and the small ribosomal rna subunit – allowed the discrimination ... | 2013 | 23880415 |
| multifaceted responses to two major parasites in the honey bee (apis mellifera). | the recent declines in managed honey bee populations are of scientific, ecological and economic concern, and are partially attributed to honey bee parasites and related disease. mcdonnell et al. investigate behavioral, chemical and neurogenomic effects of parasitization by the ectoparasite varroa destructor and the endoparasite nosema ceranae. the study reveals important links between underlying mechanisms of immunity and parasitization in social insects by demonstrating that chemical signals an ... | 2013 | 23870063 |
| ecto- and endoparasite induce similar chemical and brain neurogenomic responses in the honey bee (apis mellifera). | exclusion from a social group is an effective way to avoid parasite transmission. this type of social removal has also been proposed as a form of collective defense, or social immunity, in eusocial insect groups. if parasitic modification of host behavior is widespread in social insects, the underlying physiological and neuronal mechanisms remain to be investigated. we studied this phenomenon in honey bees parasitized by the mite varroa destructor or microsporidia nosema ceranae, which make bees ... | 2013 | 23866001 |
| apoptosis in the pathogenesis of nosema ceranae (microsporidia: nosematidae) in honey bees (apis mellifera). | nosema ceranae is a parasite of the epithelial ventricular cells of the honey bee that belongs to the microsporidian phylum, a biological group of single-cell, spore-forming obligate intracellular parasites found in all major animal lineages. the ability of host cells to accommodate a large parasitic burden for several days suggests that these parasites subvert the normal host cells to ensure optimal environmental conditions for growth and development. once infected, cells can counteract the inv ... | 2013 | 23864567 |
| emerging dangers: deadly effects of an emergent parasite in a new pollinator host. | there is growing concern about the threats facing many pollinator populations. emergent diseases are one of the major threats to biodiversity and a microsporidian parasite, nosema ceranae, has recently jumped host from the asian to the western honeybee, spreading rapidly worldwide, and contributing to dramatic colony losses. bumblebees are ecologically and economically important pollinators of conservation concern, which are likely exposed to n. ceranae by sharing flowers with honeybees. whilst ... | 2013 | 23816821 |
| nosema ceranae (microsporidia), a controversial 21st century honey bee pathogen. | the worldwide beekeeping sector has been facing a grave threat, with losses up to 100-1000 times greater than those previously reported. despite the scale of this honey bee mortality, the causes underlying this phenomenon remain unclear, yet they are thought to be multifactorial processes. nosema ceranae, a microsporidium recently detected in the european bee all over the world, has been implicated in the global phenomenon of colony loss, although its role remains controversial. a review of the ... | 2013 | 23757127 |
| nosema ceranae induced mortality in honey bees (apis mellifera) depends on infection methods. | nosema ceranae infection can reduce survival of the western honey bee, apis mellifera, but experiments examining its virulence have highly variable results. this variation may arise from differences in experimental techniques. we examined survival effects of two techniques: nosema infection at day 1 without anesthesia and infection at day 5 using co2 anesthesia. all bees infected with the latter method had poorer survival. interestingly, these bees also had significantly fewer spores than bees i ... | 2013 | 23711414 |
| comparative susceptibility of three western honeybee taxa to the microsporidian parasite nosema ceranae. | genetic diversity of a host species is a key factor to counter infection by parasites. since two separation events and the beginning of beekeeping, the western honeybee, apis mellifera, has diverged in many phylogenetically-related taxa that share common traits but also show specific physiological, behavioural and morphological traits. in this study, we tested the hypothesis that a. mellifera taxa living in a same habitat should respond differently to parasites like nosema ceranae, a microsporid ... | 2013 | 23619100 |
| flight behavior and pheromone changes associated to nosema ceranae infection of honey bee workers (apis mellifera) in field conditions. | parasites are known to cause the loss of individuals in social insects. in honey bee colonies the disappearance of foragers is a common factor of the wide extended colony losses. the emergent parasite of the european honey bee nosema ceranae has been found to reduce homing and orientation skills and alter metabolism of forager bees. n. ceranae-infected bees also show changes in ethyl oleate (eo) levels, which is so far the only primer pheromone identified in workers that is involved in foraging ... | 2013 | 23352958 |
| a serological method for detection of nosema ceranae. | we developed a new method for detection of the intracellular parasite, nosema ceranae, one of the most economically devastating pathogens of the honeybee. | 2013 | 23163924 |
| comparative study of nosema ceranae (microsporidia) isolates from two different geographic origins. | the intestinal honey bee parasite nosema ceranae (microsporidia) is at the root of colony losses in some regions while in others its presence causes no direct mortality. this is the case for spain and france, respectively. it is hypothesized that differences in honey bee responses to n. ceranae infection could be due to the degree of virulence of n. ceranae strains from different geographic origins. to test this hypothesis, we first performed a study to compare the genetic variability of an rdna ... | 2013 | 23031340 |
| the honey bee parasite nosema ceranae: transmissible via food exchange? | nosema ceranae, a newly introduced parasite of the honey bee, apis mellifera, is contributing to worldwide colony losses. other nosema species, such as n. apis, tend to be associated with increased defecation and spread via a fecal-oral pathway, but because n. ceranae does not induce defecation, it may instead be spread via an oral-oral pathway. cages that separated older infected bees from young uninfected bees were used to test whether n. ceranae can be spread during food exchange. when cages ... | 2012 | 22916241 |
| gas chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolite profiling of worker honey bee (apis mellifera l.) hemolymph for the study of nosema ceranae infection. | here, we are presenting a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (gc/ms) approach for the study of infection of the worker honey bee (apis mellifera l.) by the newly emerged obligate intracellular parasite nosema ceranae based on metabolite profiling of hemolymph. because of the severity of the disease, early detection is crucial for its efficient control. results revealed that the parasite causes a general disturbance of the physiology of the honey bee affecting the mechanisms controlling the mob ... | 2012 | 22841888 |
| gut pathology and responses to the microsporidium nosema ceranae in the honey bee apis mellifera. | the microsporidium nosema ceranae is a newly prevalent parasite of the european honey bee (apis mellifera). although this parasite is presently spreading across the world into its novel host, the mechanisms by it which affects the bees and how bees respond are not well understood. we therefore performed an extensive characterization of the parasite effects at the molecular level by using genetic and biochemical tools. the transcriptome modifications at the midgut level were characterized seven d ... | 2012 | 22623972 |
| differential expression of immune genes of adult honey bee (apis mellifera) after inoculated by nosema ceranae. | nosema ceranae is a microsporidium parasite infecting adult honey bees (apis mellifera) and is known to affects at both the individual and colony level. in this study, the expression levels were measured for four antimicrobial peptide encoding genes that are associated with bee humoral immunity (defensin, abaecin, apidaecin, and hymenoptaecin), eater gene which is a transmembrane protein involved cellular immunity and gene encoding female-specific protein (vitellogenin) in honey bees when inocul ... | 2012 | 22609362 |
| further evidence of an oriental origin for nosema ceranae (microsporidia: nosematidae). | although nosema ceranae was first isolated from the asian honeybee (apis cerana) in asia and then subsequently recognized as a widespread gut parasite of the western honeybee (apis mellifera), its origins and primary host are yet to be accurately established. in this study we examined the possibility of an asian origin for the parasite by looking for evidence of its ongoing spread out of asia. to do this, we surveyed for the presence of n. ceranae in a. cerana and a. mellifera on isolated island ... | 2012 | 22425522 |
| predictive markers of honey bee colony collapse. | across the northern hemisphere, managed honey bee colonies, apis mellifera, are currently affected by abrupt depopulation during winter and many factors are suspected to be involved, either alone or in combination. parasites and pathogens are considered as principal actors, in particular the ectoparasitic mite varroa destructor, associated viruses and the microsporidian nosema ceranae. here we used long term monitoring of colonies and screening for eleven disease agents and genes involved in bee ... | 2012 | 22384162 |
| honey bees (apis mellifera) reared in brood combs containing high levels of pesticide residues exhibit increased susceptibility to nosema (microsporidia) infection. | nosema ceranae and pesticide exposure can contribute to honey bee health decline. bees reared from brood comb containing high or low levels of pesticide residues were placed in two common colony environments. one colony was inoculated weekly with n. ceranae spores in sugar syrup and the other colony received sugar syrup only. worker honey bees were sampled weekly from the treatment and control colonies and analyzed for nosema spore levels. regardless of the colony environment (spores+syrup added ... | 2012 | 22285445 |
| survival and immune response of drones of a nosemosis tolerant honey bee strain towards n. ceranae infections. | honey bee colonies (apis mellifera) have been selected for low level of nosema in denmark over decades and nosema is now rarely found in bee colonies from these breeding lines. we compared the immune response of a selected and an unselected honey bee lineage, taking advantage of the haploid males to study its potential impact on the tolerance toward nosema ceranae, a novel introduced microsporidian pathogen. after artificial infections of the n. ceranae spores, the lineage selected for nosema to ... | 2012 | 22285444 |
| external and internal detection of nosema ceranae on honey bees using real-time pcr. | numerous methods exist for molecular-based detection of nosema ceranae. here we determine location of parasite loads, the optimal tissue for pathogen detection, and the likely sources of variability among assays. bee washes and head/thorax samples revealed substantial n. ceranae loads (2.67×10(4)±1.12×10(4) and 1.83×10(4)±4.14×10(3)). midgut samples carried the highest parasite loads (3.42×10(6)±1.84×10(6)), followed by the hindgut (5.50×10(5)±3.24×10(5)). we recommend using midgut samples for m ... | 2012 | 22266204 |
| a preliminary study of the epidemiological factors related to honey bee colony loss in spain. | in recent years, a worldwide decline in the apis mellifera populations has been detected in many regions, including spain. this decline is thought to be related to the effects of pathogens or pesticides, although to what extent these factors are implicated is still not clear. in this study, we estimated the prevalence of honey bee colony depopulation symptoms in a random selected sample (n = 61) and we explored the implication of different pathogens, pesticides and the flora visited in the area ... | 2010 | 23766075 |
| horizontal transmission of nosema ceranae (microsporidia) from worker honeybees to queens (apis mellifera). | horizontal transmission from worker honeybees to queens is confirmed in a laboratory essay as a possible route of nosema ceranae infection in field colonies and pathological repercussions on honeybee queens are described. lesions are only detected in the epithelial ventricular layer of the infected queens and death occurs within 3 weeks when the nurse workers are experimentally and collectively infected with approximately 5000 viable spores per bee. these data suggest that the higher number of i ... | 2009 | 23765927 |
| south american native bumblebees (hymenoptera: apidae) infected by nosema ceranae (microsporidia), an emerging pathogen of honeybees (apis mellifera). | as pollination is a critical process in both human-managed and natural terrestrial ecosystems, pollinators provide essential services to both nature and humans. pollination is mainly due to the action of different insects, such as the bumblebee and the honeybee. these important ecological and economic roles have led to widespread concern over the recent decline in pollinator populations that has been detected in many regions of the world. while this decline has been attributed in some cases to c ... | 2009 | 23765744 |
| honeybee colony collapse due to nosema ceranae in professional apiaries. | honeybee colony collapse is a sanitary and ecological worldwide problem. the features of this syndrome are an unexplained disappearance of adult bees, a lack of brood attention, reduced colony strength, and heavy winter mortality without any previous evident pathological disturbances. to date there has not been a consensus about its origins. this report describes the clinical features of two professional bee-keepers affecting by this syndrome. anamnesis, clinical examination and analyses support ... | 2009 | 23765741 |
| nosema neumanni n. sp. (microsporidia, nosematidae), a new microsporidian parasite of honeybees, apis mellifera in uganda. | the microsporidium nosema neumanni n. sp., a new parasite of the honeybee apis mellifera is described based on its ultra-structural and molecular characteristics. structures resembling microsporidian spores were found by microscopic examination of honeybees from uganda. molecular confirmation failed when pcr primers specific for nosema apis and nosema ceranae were used, but was successful with primers covering the whole family of nosematidae. we performed transmission electron microscopy and fou ... | 2017 | 28826077 |
| long-term temporal trends of nosema spp. infection prevalence in northeast germany: continuous spread of nosema ceranae, an emerging pathogen of honey bees (apis mellifera), but no general replacement of nosema apis. | the western honey bee (apis mellifera) is widely used as commercial pollinator in worldwide agriculture and, therefore, plays an important role in global food security. among the parasites and pathogens threatening health and survival of honey bees are two species of microsporidia, nosema apis and nosema ceranae. nosema ceranae is considered an emerging pathogen of the western honey bee. reports on the spread of n. ceranae suggested that this presumably highly virulent species is replacing its m ... | 2017 | 28730143 |
| geographical distribution and molecular detection of nosema ceranae from indigenous honey bees of saudi arabia. | the aim of the study was to detect the infection level of honey bees with nosema apis and/or nosema ceranae using microscopic and molecular analysis from indigenous honeybee race of eight saudi arabian geographical regions. a detailed survey was conducted and fifty apiaries were chosen at random from these locations. infection level was determined both by microscope and multiplex-pcr and data were analyzed using bioinformatics tools and phylogenetic analysis. result showed that n. ceranae was th ... | 2017 | 28663692 |
| prevalence of the microsporidian nosema ceranae in honeybee (apis mellifera) apiaries in central italy. | nosema ceranae and nosema apis are microsporidia which play an important role in the epidemiology of honeybee microsporidiosis worldwide. nosemiasis reduces honeybee population size and causes significant losses in honey production. to the best of our knowledge, limited information is available about the prevalence of nosemiasis in italy. in this research, we determined the occurrence of nosema infection in central italy. thirty-eight seemingly healthy apiaries (2 to 4 hives each) were randomly ... | 2017 | 28663691 |
| microsporidia: an emerging threat to bumblebees? | microsporidia may cause emerging infectious diseases (eids) in bumblebees. two drivers - commercial bumblebees and managed honey bees - have been identified as possible sources of pathogen spillover. in addition, declines in bumblebee populations may have led to lower genetic diversity and subsequent higher susceptibility to infection, enabling microsporidia to increase in prevalence. there is strong evidence for relatively recent increases in the prevalence of nosema bombi in north america. how ... | 2017 | 28663099 |
| nosema ceranae, fipronil and their combination compromise honey bee reproduction via changes in male physiology. | the honey bee is threatened by biological agents and pesticides that can act in combination to induce synergistic effects on its physiology and lifespan. the synergistic effects of a parasite/pesticide combination have been demonstrated on workers and queens, but no studies have been performed on drones despite their essential contribution to colony sustainability by providing semen diversity and quality. the effects of the nosema ceranae/fipronil combination on the life traits and physiology of ... | 2017 | 28819220 |
| antifungal activity of the essential oil obtained from cryptocarya alba against infection in honey bees by nosema ceranae. | the honeybee disease nosemosis type c is a serious problem since its causative agent, microsporidium nosema ceranae, is widespread among adult honey bees. some of the feasible alternative treatments that are used to control this disease are plant extracts. the aim of the present work was to evaluate the effects of essential oils of chilean plant species, such as cryptocarya alba, which is used against n. ceranae, and to identify and quantify the majority active compounds in the eo as well as the ... | 2017 | 28818498 |
| disruption of oxidative balance in the gut of the western honeybee apis mellifera exposed to the intracellular parasite nosema ceranae and to the insecticide fipronil. | the causes underlying the increased mortality of honeybee colonies remain unclear and may involve multiple stressors acting together, including both pathogens and pesticides. previous studies suggested that infection by the gut parasite nosema ceranae combined with chronic exposure to sublethal doses of the insecticide fipronil generated an increase in oxidative stress in the midgut of honeybees. to explore the impact of these two stressors on oxidative balance, we experimentally infected bees w ... | 2017 | 28736933 |