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Exploring viral infections in honey bee colonies: insights from a metagenomic study in southern Brazil

  • Bacterial, Fungal and Virus Molecular Biology - Research Paper
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Abstract

The decline in honey bee colonies in different parts of the world in recent years is due to different reasons, such as agricultural practices, climate changes, the use of chemical insecticides, and pests and diseases. Viral infections are one of the main causes leading to honey bee population declines, which have a major economic impact due to honey production and pollination. To investigate the presence of viruses in bees in southern Brazil, we used a metagenomic approach to sequence adults’ samples of concentrated extracts from Apis mellifera collected in fifteen apiaries of six municipalities in the Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, between 2016 and 2017. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) of these samples resulted in the identification of eight previously known viruses (Apis rhabdovirus 1 (ARV-1), Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), Aphid lethal paralysis virus (ALPV), Black queen cell virus (BQCV), Bee Macula-like virus (BeeMLV), Deformed wing virus (DWV), Lake Sinai Virus NE (LSV), and Varroa destructor virus 3 (VDV-3)) and a thogotovirus isolate. This thogotovirus shares high amino acid identities in five of the six segments with Varroa orthomyxovirus 1, VOV-1 (98.36 to 99.34% identity). In contrast, segment 4, which codes for the main glycoprotein (GP), has no identity with VOV-1, as observed for the other segments, but shares an amino acid identity of 34–38% with other glycoproteins of viruses from the Orthomyxoviridae family. In addition, the putative thogotovirus GP also shows amino acid identities ranging from 33 to 41% with the major glycoprotein (GP64) of insect viruses of the Baculoviridae family. To our knowledge, this is the second report of a thogotovirus found in bees and given this information, this thogotovirus isolate was tentatively named Apis thogotovirus 1 (ATHOV-1). The detection of multiple viruses in bees is important to better understand the complex interactions between viruses and their hosts. By understanding these interactions, better strategies for managing viral infections in bees and protecting their populations can be developed.

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Funding

This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Grant number 304223/2021–2) and Fundação de apoio à pesquisa do Distrito Federal (FAPDF, Grant number 193001532/2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cell Biology Department, University of Brasília, Brasília, DF, 70910-900, Brazil

    Leonardo Assis da Silva, Brenda Rabello de Camargo, Bruno Milhomem Pilati Rodrigues, Daniel Mendes Pereira Ardisson-Araújo & Bergmann Morais Ribeiro

  2. Control Agro Bio Pesquisa E Defesa Agropecuária, Parque Tecnológico TECNOPUC/PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Diouneia Lisiane Berlitz

  3. ProspectaBio - Soluções biológicas Ltda. CABIO - Control Agro Bio - Consultoria Parque Tecnológico TECNOPUC/PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Lidia Mariana Fiuza

  4. Laboratory of Baculovirus, Cell Biology Department, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, 70910-900, Brazil

    Daniel Mendes Pereira Ardisson-Araújo & Bergmann Morais Ribeiro

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  1. Leonardo Assis da Silva
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  2. Brenda Rabello de Camargo
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  3. Bruno Milhomem Pilati Rodrigues
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Contributions

Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Lidia Mariana Fiuza, and Daniel Mendes Pereira Ardisson-Araújo designed the study. Leonardo Assis da Silva, Brenda Rabello de Camargo, Bruno Milhomem Pilati Rodrigues, and Diouneia Lisiane Berlitz performed the research. Leonardo Assis da Silva, Daniel Mendes Pereira Ardisson-Araújo, and Bergmann Morais Ribeiro performed the data analysis. Leonardo Assis da Silva, Daniel Mendes Pereira Ardisson-Araújo, and Bergmann Morais Ribeiro wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Daniel Mendes Pereira Ardisson-Araújo or Bergmann Morais Ribeiro.

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da Silva, L.A., de Camargo, B.R., Rodrigues, B.M.P. et al. Exploring viral infections in honey bee colonies: insights from a metagenomic study in southern Brazil. Braz J Microbiol 54, 1447–1458 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-023-01078-z

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