Viruses contribute significantly to the global decline of honey bee populations. One way to limit the impact of such viruses is the introduction of natural antiviral compounds from fungi as a component of honey bee diets. Therefore, we examined the effect of crude organic extracts from seven strains of the fungal genus Talaromyces in honey bee diets under laboratory conditions. The strains were isolated from bee bread prepared by honey bees infected with chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV). The antiviral effect of the extracts was also quantified in vitro using mammalian cells as a model system. We found that three extracts (from strains B13, B18 and B30) mitigated CBPV infections and increased the survival rate of bees, whereas other extracts had no effect (B11 and B49) or were independently toxic (B69 and B195). Extract B18 inhibited the replication of feline calicivirus and feline coronavirus (FCoV) in mammalian cells, whereas extracts B18 and B195 reduced the infectivity of FCoV by ~90% and 99%, respectively. Our results show that nonpathogenic fungi (and their products in food stores) offer an underexplored source of compounds that promote disease resistance in honey bees.

Branch Bioresources Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology Ohlebergsweg 12 35392 Giessen Germany

Institute for Insect Biotechnology Justus Liebig University Giessen Heinrich Buff Ring 26 32 35392 Giessen Germany

Institute of Virology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Justus Liebig University Giessen Schubertstrasse 81 35392 Giessen Germany

OncoRa s r o Nemanicka 2722 37001 Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Retorta s r o Tresnova 316 37382 Borsov nad Vltavou Czech Republic

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