Molecular detection and phylogenetic assessment of six honeybee viruses in Apis mellifera L. colonies in Bulgaria

Rositsa Shumkova; Boyko Neov; Daniela Sirakova; Ani Georgieva; Dimitar Gadjev; Denitsa Teofanova; Georgi Radoslavov; Maria Bouga; Peter Hristov

doi:10.7717/peerj.5077

Molecular detection and phylogenetic assessment of six honeybee viruses in Apis mellifera L. colonies in Bulgaria

PeerJ. 2018 Jun 20:6:e5077. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5077. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Rositsa Shumkova¹, Boyko Neov², Daniela Sirakova², Ani Georgieva³, Dimitar Gadjev¹, Denitsa Teofanova⁴, Georgi Radoslavov², Maria Bouga⁵, Peter Hristov²

Affiliations

¹ Agricultural and Stockbreeding Experimental Station, Agricultural Academy, Smolyan, Bulgaria.
² Department of Animal Diversity and Resources, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.
³ Department of Pathology, Institute of Experimental Morphology, Pathology and Morphology and Anthropology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Sofia, Bulgaria.
⁵ Laboratory of Agricultural Zoology and Entomology, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece.

Abstract

Honey bee colonies suffer from various pathogens, including honey bee viruses. About 24 viruses have been reported so far. However, six of them are considered to cause severe infection which inflicts heavy losses on beekeeping. The aim of this study was to investigate incidence of six honey bee viruses: deformed wing virus (DWV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV), chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV), sacbrood virus (SBV), kashmir bee virus (KBV), and black queen cell virus (BQCV) by a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). A total of 250 adult honey bee samples were obtained from 50 colonies from eight apiaries situated in three different parts of the country (South, North and West Bulgaria). The results showed the highest prevalence of DWV followed by SBV and ABPV, and one case of BQCV. A comparison with homology sequences available in GenBank was performed by phylogenetic analysis, and phylogenetic relationships were discussed in the context of newly described genotypes in the uninvestigated South Eastern region of Europe. In conclusion, the present study has been the first to provide sequencing data and phylogenetics analyses of some honey bee viruses in Bulgaria.

Keywords: Apis mellifera; Bulgaria; Honey bee viruses; RT-PCR.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Scientific Fund of the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, [grant numbers 06/10 17.12.20016]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.