Abstract
Successful growth and transmission is a prerequisite for a parasite to maintain itself in its host population. Nosema bombi is a ubiquitous and damaging parasite of bumble bees, but little is known about its transmission and epidemiology within bumble bee colonies. The impact of host demography and colony life-cycle on the transmission and reproduction of N. bombi were examined in Bombus lucorum colonies. Parasite success was highest when infecting colonies where larval exposure to the parasite was high. The later individual bees were born in the colony life-cycle, the higher their infection intensity, but after eclosion individual parasite loads did not increase, indicating either host control of the parasite, a balance between internal infection and the production of transmission stages, or a switch in the parasite’s growth strategy after eclosion to the production of transmission stages. Finally, trans-ovarial vertical transmission of N. bombi was suggested using molecular probes.
Zusammenfassung
Zum Verständnis der Bedeutung eines Parasiten ist es wichtig, die Dynamik seiner Übertragung im Wirt zu kennen. Das Mikrosporidium Nosema bombi parasitiert Hummeln und führt nicht nur zur Behinderung einzelner Tiere, sondern kann den Fortpflanzungserfolg ganzer Hummelvölker beeinflussen. Wir untersuchten die Übertragung dieses Parasiten in Laborvölkern von Bombus lucorum, indem wir Kolonien kontrolliert inokulierten und im Anschuss daran untersuchten, wieviele Einzeltiere infiziert waren und in welchem Ausmass sich diese Infektionen auf den Lebenszyklus der Kolonie auswirkten. Mittels molekularer Methoden untersuchten wir ausserdem, ob es zu einer vertikalen Übertragung des Parasiten vom Ei auf die Nachkommen kam. Parasiteninfektionen waren am erfolgreichsten, wenn eine grosse Zahl an Bienenlarven in Kontakt mit dem Parasiten kamen. Ausserdem nahm die Intensität der Infektionen im Verlauf des Lebenszyklus der Kolonien zu. Die Parasitenbelastung einzelner Tiere stieg jedoch nach dem Schlüpfen nicht weiter an. Mittels molekularer Methoden konnten wir zeigen, dass N. bombi Sporen bereits in Eiern zu finden sind, die von Arbeiterinnen abgelegt worden waren. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass der Parasit von einer Generation auf die nächste vertikal übertragen werden kann, ohne dass eine orale Infektion erforderlich ist. Unsere Ergebnisse tragen damit signifikant zum Verständnis dieses wichtigen Hummelparasiten bei.
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Rutrecht, S.T., Brown, M.J.F. Within colony dynamics of Nosema bombi infections: disease establishment, epidemiology and potential vertical transmission. Apidologie 39, 504–514 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:2008031
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/apido:2008031