Review of Bee Health

Parasite-Pathogen Partnership

March 8, 2016

Editor’s Note: The complete text of the PNAS study, “A mutualistic symbiosis between a parasitic mite and a pathogenic virus undermines honey bee immunity and health” by Gennaro Di Prisco^a,¹, Desiderato Annoscia^b,¹, Marina Margiotta^a, Rosalba Ferrara^a, Paola Varricchio^a, Virginia Zanni^b, Emilio Caprio^a, Francesco Nazzi^b,², and Francesco Pennacchio is found here.

From: The Scientist

Parasitic mites that transmit a honey bee-infecting virus may benefit from spreading the pathogen, a study shows.

By Ashley P. Taylor

Honey bee colony losses concern beekeepers and agriculturists alike, as Apis mellifera are important crop pollinators. A pair of factors that affect the health of honey bee colonies are the mite, Varroa destructor—which parasitizes honey bee larvae—and the pathogenic deformed wing virus (DWV), which V. destructor can transmit. Scientists have long tried to understand the details of the mite-virus-bee ecology. It was already known that DWV benefitted from its association with the mite, as the parasite helps the virus spread. But it had been less clear whether the mite gained anything from serving as a viral vector. It turns out that mites show more reproductive successes when parasitizing honey bees with active DWV infections, according to a study published today (March 7) in PNAS.

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“Nobody was expecting this,” said University of Salford ecologist Stephen Martin, who was not involved in the work.

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