The Varroa destructor mite has recently displayed an ever increasing resistance to new drugs, contributing to CCD proliferation. This work was aimed at determining new viable methods for identifying the pyrethroid resistance of V. destructor and DNA methylation in resistant and sensitive mites. DNA was extracted from Varroa mites. Nucleotide changes in the DNA of pyrethroid-resistant, pyrethroid-sensitive, and control mites were identified with polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) in the case of five mitochondrial gene fragments. More bands were observed in the drug-resistant mites than in the other two groups. Sequencing confirmed these observations. Decreased global DNA methylation levels were observed in the pyrethroid-resistant mites. There exists a previously undescribed mechanism of pyrethroid resistance development in Varroa mites. The PCR-SSCP methods can be considered and further developed as useful tools for detecting V. destructor resistance.
Keywords: Acaricides; Drug resistance; Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI); PCR-SSCP; Varroa destructor.