title: First detection and dominance of Nosema ceranae in Hungarian honeybee colonies.
abstract: Microsporidiosis (nosema disease) of the European honeybee ( Apis mellifera L.) is present in bee colonies worldwide. Until recently, Nosema apis had been regarded as the causative agent of the disease, which may have many negative effects on the colony and cause heavy economic losses in apicultures. Another microsporidium species, Nosema ceranae , was reported to infest the Asian honeybee ( Apis ceranae ), but both honeybee species are susceptible to both microsporidia. In the European honeybee N. ceranae was first detected in Spain in the year 2006. As it is difficult to distinguish N. ceranae and N. apis morphologically, a rapid and accurate assay has been developed to differentiate N. apis and N. ceranae based on polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) of the partial large subunit ribosomal RNA. The assay was tested on 38 Nosema -infested bee samples, which were collected from geographically distant Hungarian bee colonies representing all regions of the country. Only one sample contained N. apis , and in the other 37 samples N. ceranae was detected, which indicates the dominance of N. ceranae in Hungarian apiaries. This is the first report on the presence of N. ceranae in Hungary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Hungária krt. 23-25 H-1143 Budapest, Hungary. tapaszti@gmail.com
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tapaszti
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forgách
authors.forename: Csaba
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kövágó
authors.forename: László
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Békési
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bakonyi
authors.forename: Miklós
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rusvai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D006814:Hungary; D016818:Nosema / Q000302:isolation & purification*