AIMS: The winter beehive debris containing bodies of honeybee parasitic mite Varroa destructor is used for veterinary diagnostics. The Varroa sucking honeybee haemolymph serves as a reservoir of pathogens including bacteria. Worker bees can pick up pathogens from the debris during cleaning activities and spread the infection to healthy bees within the colony. The aim of this study was to detect entomopathogenic bacteria in the Varroa collected from the winter beehive debris. METHODS AND RESULTS: Culture-independent approach was used to analyse the mite-associated bacterial community. Total DNA was extracted from the samples of 10 Varroa female individuals sampled from 27 different sites in Czechia. The 16S rRNA gene was amplified using universal bacterial primers, cloned and sequenced, resulting in a set of 596 sequences representing 29 operational taxonomic units (OTU97). To confirm the presence of bacteria in Varroa, histological sections of the mites were observed. Undetermined bacteria were observed in the mite gut and fat tissue. CONCLUSION: Morganella sp. was the most frequently detected taxon, followed by Enterococcus sp., Pseudomonas sp., Rahnella sp., Erwinia sp., and Arsenophonus sp. The honeybee putative pathogen Spiroplasma sp. was detected at one site and Bartonella-like bacteria were found at four sites. PCR-based analysis using genus-specific primers enabled detection of the following taxa: Enterococcus, Bartonella-like bacteria, Arsenophonus and Spiroplasma. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: We found potentially pathogenic (Spiroplasma) and parasitic bacteria (Arsenophonus) in mites from winter beehive debris. The mites can be reservoirs of the pathogenic bacteria in the apicultures.

Bee Research Institute at Dol Libcice nad Vltavou Czechia

Crop Research Institute Prague Czechia

Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology Kansas State University Manhattan KS USA

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Prague Czechia

References provided by Crossref.org

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Detection of tau-fluvalinate resistance in the mite Varroa destructor based on the comparison of vial test and PCR-RFLP of kdr mutation in sodium channel gene

Comparison of Microbiomes between Red Poultry Mite Populations (Dermanyssus gallinae): Predominance of Bartonella-like Bacteria

Changes in the Bacteriome of Honey Bees Associated with the Parasite Varroa destructor, and Pathogens Nosema and Lotmaria passim

Comparison of Varroa destructor and Worker Honeybee Microbiota Within Hives Indicates Shared Bacteria

Comparison of tau-fluvalinate, acrinathrin, and amitraz effects on susceptible and resistant populations of Varroa destructor in a vial test

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GENBANK
AB001449, AB695353, AB698723, AF098465, AP014622, AY131218, CP006018, EU047555, EU275366, FJ378665, FM955855, FN545282, FQ312002, FR714940, GU299866, HM046580, HM108389, HM133591, JQ970476, JX310264, KC987002, KF150504, KF754866, KT029152, KT029747

RefSeq
NR_025534, NR_029103, NR_029342, NR_102820, NR_104936, NR_117348, NR_121708