scholarly journals Immune Response and Hemolymph Microbiota of Apis Mellifera and Apis Cerana After the Challenge With Recombinant Varroa Toxic Protein

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balachandar Balakrishnan ◽  
Hua Wu ◽  
Li Cao ◽  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Wenfeng Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The honeybee is a significant crop pollinator and key model insect for understanding social behavior, disease transmission, and development. The ectoparasitic Varroa destructor mite put threats on the honeybee industry. A Varroa toxic protein (VTP) from the saliva of Varroa mites contributes to the toxicity toward Apis cerana and the DWV elevation in Apis mellifera. However, the immune response and hemolymph microbiota of honeybee species after the injection of recombinant VTP has not yet been reported.Methods: In this study, both A. cerana and A. mellifera worker larvae were injected with the recombinant VTP. Then the expressions of the honeybee immune genes abaecin, defensin and domeless at three time points were determined by qRT-PCR, and hemolymph microbial community were analyzed by culture-dependent method, after recombinant VTP injection. Results: The mortality rates of A. cerana larvae were much higher than those of A. mellifera larvae after VTP challenge. VTP injection induced the up-regulation of defensin gene expression in A. mellifera larvae, and higher levels of abaecin and domeless mRNAs response in A. cerana larvae, compared with the control (without any injection). PBS injection also upregulated the expression levels of abaecin, defensin, and domeless in A. mellifera and A. cerana larvae. Three bacterial species (Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus cohnii and Bacillus cereus) were isolated from the hemolymph of A. cerana larvae after VTP injection and at 48 h after PBS injections. Two bacterial species (Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Staphylococcus aureus) were isolated from A. mellifera larvae after VTP challenge. No bacterial colonies were detected from the larval hemolymph of both honeybee species treated by injection only and the control. Conclusion: The result indicates that abaecin, defensin, and domeless genes and hemolymph microbiota respond to the VTP challenge. VTP injection might induce the dramatic growth of different bacterial species in the hemolymph of the injected larvae of A. mellifera and A. cerana, which provide cues for further studying the interactions among the honeybee, VTP and hemolymph bacteria.

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1291
Author(s):  
Sara Lado ◽  
Jean P. Elbers ◽  
Martin Plasil ◽  
Tom Loney ◽  
Pia Weidinger ◽  
...  

The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has refocused attention to the betacoronaviruses, only eight years after the emergence of another zoonotic betacoronavirus, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). While the wild source of SARS-CoV-2 may be disputed, for MERS-CoV, dromedaries are considered as source of zoonotic human infections. Testing 100 immune-response genes in 121 dromedaries from United Arab Emirates (UAE) for potential association with present MERS-CoV infection, we identified candidate genes with important functions in the adaptive, MHC-class I (HLA-A-24-like) and II (HLA-DPB1-like), and innate immune response (PTPN4, MAGOHB), and in cilia coating the respiratory tract (DNAH7). Some of these genes previously have been associated with viral replication in SARS-CoV-1/-2 in humans, others have an important role in the movement of bronchial cilia. These results suggest similar host genetic pathways associated with these betacoronaviruses, although further work is required to better understand the MERS-CoV disease dynamics in both dromedaries and humans.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Wannapha Mookhploy ◽  
Sasiprapa Krongdang ◽  
Panuwan Chantawannakul

Honeybees are globally threatened by several pathogens, especially deformed wing virus (DWV), as the presence of DWV in western honeybees is indicative of colony loss. The high mortality rate is further exacerbated by the lack of effective treatment, and therefore understanding the immune and apoptosis responses could pave an avenue for the treatment method. In this study, DWV was directly injected into the white-eyed pupae stage of western honeybees (Apis mellifera). The DWV loads and selected gene responses were monitored using the real-time PCR technique. The results showed that honeybee pupae that were injected with the highest concentration of viral loads showed a significantly higher mortality rate than the control groups. Deformed wings could be observed in newly emerged adult bees when the infected bees harbored high levels of viral loads. However, the numbers of viral loads in both normal and crippled wing groups were not significantly different. DWV-injected honeybee pupae with 104 and 107 copy numbers per bee groups showed similar viral loads after 48 h until newly emerged adult bees. Levels of gene expression including immune genes (defensin, abaecin, and hymenoptaecin) and apoptosis genes (buffy, p53, Apaf1, caspase3-like, caspase8-like, and caspase9-like) were analyzed after DWV infection. The expressions of immune and apoptosis genes were significantly different in infected bees compared to those of the control groups. In the pupae stage, the immune genes were activated by injecting DWV (defensin and hymenoptaecin) or Escherichia coli (defensin, abaecin, and hymenoptaecin), a positive control. On the contrary, the expression of apoptosis-related genes (buffy, caspase3-like, caspase8-like, and caspase9-like genes) was suppressed at 96 h post-infection. In DWV-infected newly emerged adult bees, abaecin, hymenoptaecin, Apaf1, and caspase8-like genes were upregulated. However, these genes were not significantly different between the normal and crippled wing bees. Our results suggested that DWV could activate the humoral immunity in honeybees and that honeybee hosts may be able to protect themselves from the virus infection through immune responses. Apoptosis gene expressions were upregulated in newly emerged adult bees by the virus, however, they were downregulated during the initial phase of viral infection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dora Henriques ◽  
Ana R. Lopes ◽  
Nor Chejanovsky ◽  
Anne Dalmon ◽  
Mariano Higes ◽  
...  

AbstractWith a growing number of parasites and pathogens experiencing large-scale range expansions, monitoring diversity in immune genes of host populations has never been so important because it can inform on the adaptive potential to resist the invaders. Population surveys of immune genes are becoming common in many organisms, yet they are missing in the honey bee (Apis mellifera L.), a key managed pollinator species that has been severely affected by biological invasions. To fill the gap, here we identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a wide range of honey bee immune genes and developed a medium-density assay targeting a subset of these genes. Using a discovery panel of 123 whole-genomes, representing seven A. mellifera subspecies and three evolutionary lineages, 180 immune genes were scanned for SNPs in exons, introns (< 4 bp from exons), 3’ and 5´UTR, and < 1 kb upstream of the transcription start site. After application of multiple filtering criteria and validation, the final medium-density assay combines 91 quality-proved functional SNPs marking 89 innate immune genes and these can be readily typed using the high-sample-throughput iPLEX MassARRAY system. This medium-density-SNP assay was applied to 156 samples from four countries and the admixture analysis clustered the samples according to their lineage and subspecies, suggesting that honey bee ancestry can be delineated from functional variation. In addition to allowing analysis of immunogenetic variation, this newly-developed SNP assay can be used for inferring genetic structure and admixture in the honey bee.


2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin J Fenske ◽  
Sudeep Ghimire ◽  
Linto Antony ◽  
Jane Christopher-Hennings ◽  
Joy Scaria

ABSTRACT Bacterial communities resident in the hindgut of pigs, have profound impacts on health and disease. Investigations into the pig microbiome have utilized either culture-dependent, or far more commonly, culture-independent techniques using next generation sequencing. We contend that a combination of both approaches generates a more coherent view of microbiome composition. In this study, we surveyed the microbiome of Tamworth breed and feral pigs through the integration high throughput culturing and shotgun metagenomics. A single culture medium was used for culturing. Selective screens were added to the media to increase culture diversity. In total, 46 distinct bacterial species were isolated from the Tamworth and feral samples. Selective screens successfully shifted the diversity of bacteria on agar plates. Tamworth pigs are highly dominated by Bacteroidetes primarily composed of the genus Prevotella whereas feral samples were more diverse with almost equal proportions of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. The combination of metagenomics and culture techniques facilitated a greater retrieval of annotated genes than either method alone. The single medium based pig microbiota library we report is a resource to better understand pig gut microbial ecology and function. It allows for assemblage of defined bacterial communities for studies in bioreactors or germfree animal models.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-487
Author(s):  
Rameshwor Pudasaini ◽  
Resham Bahadur Thapa

An experiment was conducted to determine the foraging behavior of Apis mellifera L. and Apis cerana F. in rapeseed under cage condition in Chitwan, Nepal during 2012-2013. This experiment showed that Apis cerana F. foraged extra 42 minute per day as compared to Apis mellifera L. Apis cerana F. were more attracted to nectar, whereas Apis mellifera L. were more attracted to pollen collection throughout the day. The activities, in into hives and out from hives, for both species were recorded more at 2:00 pm and least at 8:00 am. The highest in-out were observed at 2:00 pm on both species as Apis mellifera L. 44.33 bees entered into hives and 49.66 bees went out of hives, whereas lower number of Apis cerana F. 43.66 bees entered into hives and 48.16 bees were out of hives. Apis mellifera L. collect 1.22:1 and 0.41:1 pollen nectar ratio at 10:00 am and 4:00 am whereas at same hours Apis cerana collect 1.16:1 and 0.30:1 pollen nectar ratio. Apis cerana F. foraged significantly higher number of rapeseed flowers and plants as compared to Apis mellifera L. under caged condition. It shows that Apis cerana F. was more efficient pollinator as compared to Apis mellifera L. under caged condition. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v2i4.11238Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 2(4): 483-487  


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. PEGORARO ◽  
E. M. MARQUES ◽  
A.C. NETO ◽  
E.C. COSTA

Varroa jacobsoni foi descrita em 1904 por Oldenans em Java em cria de Apis cerana. O nível de infestação com V. jacobsoni mede indiretamente o grau de tolerância da A. mellifera à V. jacobsoni. O estudo foi conduzido no Município de Mandirituba-PR. Os enxames foram capturados com caixa iscas. A percentagem de infestação V. jacobsoni foi resistrada mensalmente. Aplicando-se o teste de Friedman e usando-se o rank de cada colônia, separou-se os grupos de colônias homogêneas. A tendência sazonal foi demostrada com representação gráfica. O experimento foi delineado segundo blocos inteiramente casualizados. Em todas as amostras foi encontrado o ácaro V. jacobsoni. Diferenças significativas entre as colônias foram observadas. Na população de Apis mellifera scutellata existem três grupos homogêneos de colônias quanto ao nível de infestação com esse ácaro. O inverno é a época onde o grau de infestação com V. jacobsoni é mais elevado. Natural infestation of Apis mellifera scutellata (Hymenoptera; Apidae) by Varroa jacobsoni (Mesostigmata; Varroidae) Abstract Infestation by Varroa jacobsoni in an offspring of Apis cerana was first described as early as 1904 in Java. Since the level of infestation by V. jacobsoni may be an indirect procedure to measure the Apis mellifera scutellata tolerance degree towards it, the present research was carried out in order to evaluate such biological relationship between host and parasite and its implication in the Apis mellifera scutellata productivity. This study was carried out at Mandirituba, Paraná, Brazil. The swarms were captured with bait boxes. The percentage of V. jacobsoni infestation was established monthly. According to the Friedman test ant through the rank, homogeneous colonies were single out. The experiment has been delineated as entirely randomized blocks.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Su ◽  
Renjie Chang ◽  
Weiwei Zheng ◽  
Yuena Sun ◽  
Tianjun Xu

Pathogen infection can cause the production of inflammatory cytokines, which are key mediators that cause the host’s innate immune response. Therefore, proper regulation of immune genes associated with inflammation is essential for immune response. Among them, microRNAs (miRNAs) as gene regulator have been widely reported to be involved in the innate immune response of mammals. However, the regulatory network in which miRNAs are involved in the development of inflammation is largely unknown in lower vertebrates. Here, we identified two miRNAs from miiuy croaker (Miichthys miiuy), miR-210 and miR-3570, which play a negative regulatory role in host antibacterial immunity. We found that the expressions of miR-210 and miR-3570 were significantly upregulated under the stimulation of Gram-negative bacterium vibrio harveyi and LPS (lipopolysaccharide). Induced miR-210 and miR-3570 inhibit inflammatory cytokine production by targeting RIPK2, thereby avoiding excessive inflammation. In particular, we found that miR-210 and miR-3570 negatively regulate antimicrobial immunity by regulating the RIPK2-mediated NF-κB signaling pathway. The collective results indicated that both miRNAs are used as negative feedback regulators to regulate RIPK2-mediated NF-κB signaling pathway and thus play a regulatory role in bacteria-induced inflammatory response.


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