European isolates of the Microsporidia Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae have similar virulence in laboratory tests on European worker honey bees

Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae are gut parasites that infect western honey bees (Apis mellifera) worldwide. N. ceranae is an exotic infectious disease agent of A. mellifera, having been originally described in the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana), while N. apis is native to the western honey bee. To be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inApidologie Vol. 47; no. 1; pp. 57 - 65
Main Authors Natsopoulou, Myrsini E., Doublet, Vincent, Paxton, Robert J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Paris Springer Paris 2016
Springer Verlag
Subjects
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Entomology
Life Sciences
Original Article
host
parasite
Microsporidia
survival
Apis mellifera
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Summary:Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae are gut parasites that infect western honey bees (Apis mellifera) worldwide. N. ceranae is an exotic infectious disease agent of A. mellifera, having been originally described in the Asian honey bee (Apis cerana), while N. apis is native to the western honey bee. To better understand the dynamics and epidemiology of the two pathogens, we examined the impact of European isolates of both Microsporidia on the longevity of European A. mellifera in a controlled laboratory experiment. N. ceranae caused slightly higher host mortality compared to N. apis, but differences in virulence were subtle and non-significant. Variation across published studies may reflect geographic differences in the coadaptation of hosts and parasites and seasonal differences in host susceptibility.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13592-015-0375-9
ISSN:0044-8435
1297-9678
DOI:10.1007/s13592-015-0375-9