Molecular Detection of Bee Pathogens in Honey.

REVAINERA, P.D.; FERNANDEZ DE LANDA, G; QUINTAMA, S; MAGGI, M D

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Reunión Anual de las Sociedades de Biociencias de Argentina SAIC, SAFE, SAB, SAP.; 2019

Honey bees have a wide variety of parasites and pathogens associated with theirnests. One of them, the causative agent of the American foulbrood, Paenibacillus larvae,was previously found in bee honey. Considering that other spore-forming microorganismsare expected to remain latent in honey, the presence of, at least, microsporidia, spore-forming bacteria, and viruses protected by peptide structures might represent a threat.Parasites and pathogens that affect honey bees health seem to play a major role in theworldwide decline of pollinators, therefore their detection in honey could be used toprevent the spread of diseases among colonies. Honey from 57 apiaries located in BuenosAires, Córdoba, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Formosa, La Rioja, Neuquén, Río Negro andSanta Fe was collected between March and October, 2012. DNA was extracted from thepellet obtained by centrifugation of 10 g. of honey samples and amplified by qPCR. PCRproducts were purified, sequenced and analysed using BLAST software. Honey from everyapiary contained DNA of at least one pathogen, with a high occurrence of Apis melliferaFilamentous Virus (96.5%) and the neogregarine Apicystis bombi (75.5%). A lowerproportion of samples were positive for Nosema ceranae (51%), P. larvae (44%), andAscosphaera apis (28%). Here, we report the presence of DNA of several bee pathogensin honey from commercial apiaries, and provide a fast and efficient screening method thatcould be useful to estimate pathogen presence in apiaries.