title: Dynamics of persistent and acute deformed wing virus infections in honey bees, Apis mellifera.
abstract: The dynamics of viruses are critical to our understanding of disease pathogenesis. Using honey bee Deformed wing virus (DWV) as a model, we conducted field and laboratory studies to investigate the roles of abiotic and biotic stress factors as well as host health conditions in dynamics of virus replication in honey bees. The results showed that temperature decline could lead to not only significant decrease in the rate for pupae to emerge as adult bees, but also an increased severity of the virus infection in emerged bees, partly explaining the high levels of winter losses of managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, around the world. By experimentally exposing adult bees with variable levels of parasitic mite Varroa destructor, we showed that the severity of DWV infection was positively correlated with the density and time period of Varroa mite infestation, confirming the role of Varroa mites in virus transmission and activation in honey bees. Further, we showed that host conditions have a significant impact on the outcome of DWV infection as bees that originate from strong colonies resist DWV infection and replication significantly better than bee originating from weak colonies. The information obtained from this study has important implications for enhancing our understanding of host‑pathogen interactions and can be used to develop effective disease control strategies for honey bees.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Entomologia e Zoologia Agraria "Filippo Silvestri", Universita' degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Via Universita' n.100, 80055 Portici, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Gennaro Di
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Prisco
authors.affiliation: College of Plant Protection, Yunnan Agricultural University, Yunnan 650201, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Entomologia e Zoologia Agraria "Filippo Silvestri", Universita' degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Via Universita' n.100, 80055 Portici, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pennacchio
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Entomologia e Zoologia Agraria "Filippo Silvestri", Universita' degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Via Universita' n.100, 80055 Portici, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Caprio
authors.affiliation: Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Xiangshan, Beijing 100093, China.
authors.forename: Jilian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Jay D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS Carl Hayden Bee Research Center, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: DeGrandi-Hoffman
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Yan Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007304:Insect Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D010849:Picornaviridae / Q000502:physiology*; D010850:Picornaviridae Infections / Q000821:virology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D057077:Varroidae / Q000821:virology; D014819:Vitellogenins / Q000378:metabolism; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D014819:Vitellogenins