DEFORMED WING VIRUS TYPE A AND B IN MANAGED HONEYBEE COLONIES OF ARGENTINA

BRASESCO C; FERNANDEZ DE LANDA G; REYNALDI F; QUINTANA S,; EGUARAS M; MAGGI, M

BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2021 vol. 111

0007-4853

Apis mellifera is infected by more than 24 types of viruses worldwide, mainly RNA positive chain viruses of the Dicistroviridae and Iflaviridae families. Among them, Varroa destructor virus-1 (VDV-1) is closely related to Deformed wing virus (DWV) type A being now named as DWV type B variant. Given that the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor vectorizes both virus variants recombination events between them are expected, and both variants and their recombinants can co-exist in mites and honeybees at the same time. In this study we detect, through the RT-qPCR technique, the presence of both types of DWV in the same samples of adult bees from colonies of Argentina. Total RNA wasextracted from pools of 10 adult bees from 45 apiaries distributed across the main beekeeping Provinces of Argentina (Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, Río Negro and Mendoza); then RT-qPCR reactions were performed to detect the presence of DWV-A and B, with specific primer pairs. After the amplifications, PCR products (204bp and 660bp amplicons for DWV-B,and ~250bp for DWV-A) were purified and sequenced to verify that they corresponded to reported sequences, analyzing them using the Blast software. Of the 45 samples analyzed over 90% were infected with DWV-A and 60% were also positive for DWV-B, were it was found in high prevalence specifically in colonies of A. mellifera of the Buenos Aires Province. Future studies will determine the impact of this type of the virus and its ability to recombine with the other DWV types in the apiaries of our country.