title: Polar tube protein gene diversity among Nosema ceranae strains derived from a Greek honey bee health study.
abstract: Honey bee samples from 54 apiaries originating from 37 geographic locations of Greece were screened for Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Furthermore 15 samples coming from 12 geographic locations were screened also for Paenibacilluslarvae and Melissococcus plutonius and seven honey bee virus species, for the first time on a nation-wide level. There was a tendency in finding proportionally higher spore counts in samples from apiaries that suffered important colony losses. P. larvae bacteria were identified in two samples and each of the tested bee viruses could be detected in at least one of the examined samples, with IAPV, CBPV and SBV being the least abundant and BQCV and DWV being the most abundant. In the study we focused on polymorphism of a N. ceranae gene encoding a polar tube protein (PTP) as similar genes were proven to be highly polymorphic in the microsporidian parasites Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Encephalitozoon hellem. The polymorphism observed in the PTP gene sequences from a single sample (bee hive) was unexpected and can thus be considered to be a major obstacle for genotyping.
authors.affiliation: Hellenic Institute of Apiculture, National Agricultural Research Foundation, 63200 Nea Moudania, Greece.
authors.forename: Fani
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hatjina
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tsoktouridis
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouga
authors.forename: Leonidas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Charistos
authors.forename: Vassiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Evangelou
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Avtzis
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Meeus
authors.forename: Marleen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brunain
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smagghe
authors.forename: Dirk C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: de Graaf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006115:Greece; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D009181:Mycoses / Q000662:veterinary*; D016818:Nosema / Q000235:genetics*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D005656:Fungal Proteins