title: Higher prevalence and levels of Nosema ceranae than Nosema apis infections in Canadian honey bee colonies.
abstract: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and infection levels of the microsporidia fungi Nosema apis and/or Nosema ceranae in honey bee colonies of two Canadian provinces. Three surveys were conducted in the springs of 2008, 2010 and 2012 and PCR identification of Nosema species were performed in samples from 169 and 181 Ontario colonies and from 76 Alberta colonies that tested positive to Nosema spp. Infection levels of positive colonies were determined by microscopy and analyzed by Nosema spp. Results showed that N. ceranae was the dominant species in all three surveys (prevalence range of 41-91 vs. 4-34 % for N. apis), whereas mixed infections were less frequent than single infections (5-25 %). Infection levels of colonies parasitized by N. ceranae were three to five times higher than those of colonies parasitized by N. apis in the three surveys whereas mixed infections showed the highest spore counts. This is the first field study demonstrating significantly higher infection levels in colonies parasitized with either N. ceranae only or with both, N. ceranae and N. apis, than in colonies parasitized with N. apis only. Taken together, these results suggest that N. ceranae may be more virulent and better adapted than N. apis in cold climates such as Canadian environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Ataturk University, Erzurum, 25240, Turkey.|School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Berna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Emsen
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada. eguzman@uoguelph.ca.
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guzman-Novoa
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada.
authors.forename: Mollah Md
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hamiduzzaman
authors.affiliation: Ontario Beekeepers Association, 5420 - 185 Hwy 6 N, Guelph, Ontario, N1H 6J2, Canada.
authors.forename: Les
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eccles
authors.affiliation: Ontario Beekeepers Association, 5420 - 185 Hwy 6 N, Guelph, Ontario, N1H 6J2, Canada.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lacey
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Ataturk University, Erzurum, 25240, Turkey.|Departamento de Producción Animal: Abejas, FMVZ, UNAM, Cd. Univ, Mexico, D.F., 04510, Mexico.
authors.forename: Rosario A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Pérez
authors.affiliation: Crop Diversification Centre North, Alberta Agriculture and Food, Edmonton, Alberta, T5Y 6H3, Canada.
authors.forename: Medhat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nasr
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008858:Microscopy, Phase-Contrast; D016818:Nosema / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009864:Ontario; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal
keywords: Apis mellifera; Microsporidia; Nosema apis; Nosema ceranae; Prevalence; Virulence