title: Molecular Prevalence of Acarapis Mite Infestations in Honey Bees in Korea.
abstract: Acarapis mites, including Acarapis woodi, Acarapis externus, and Acarapis dorsalis, are parasites of bees which can cause severe damage to the bee industry by destroying colonies and decreasing honey production. All 3 species are prevalent throughout many countries including UK, USA, Iran, Turkey, China, and Japan. Based on previous reports of Acarapis mites occurring in northeast Asia, including China and Japan, we investigated a survey of Acarapis mite infestations in honey bees in Korean apiaries. A total of 99 colonies of Apis mellifera were sampled from 5 provinces. The head and thorax of 20 bees from each colony were removed for DNA extraction. PCR assays were performed with 3 primer sets, including T, A, and K primers. Results indicated that 42.4% (42/99) of samples were Acarapis-positive by PCR assay which were sequenced to identify species. Each sequence showed 92.6-99.3% homology with reference sequences. Based on the homology, the number of colonies infected with A. dorsalis was 32 which showed the highest infection rate among the 3 species, while the number of colonies infected with A. externus and A. woodi was 9 and 1, respectively. However, none of the Acarapis mites were morphologically detected. This result could be explained that all apiaries in the survey used acaricides against bee mites such as Varroa destructor and Tropilaelaps clareae which also affect against Acarapis mites. Based on this study, it is highly probable that Acarapis mites as well as Varroa and Tropilaelaps could be prevalent in Korean apiaries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Ah-Jin
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu-Sung
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA), Anyang 430-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Hyeong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA), Anyang 430-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Ha
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA), Anyang 430-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Sun
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (QIA), Anyang 430-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Do-Hyeon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chonnam National University, Gwangju 500-757, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Shik
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000469:parasitology*; D008925:Mites / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea
keywords: Acarapis mite; Apis mellifera (bee); molecular prevalence