Sublethal effects of acaricides and Nosema ceranae infection on immune related gene expression in honeybees.
Nosema ceranae is an obligate intracellular parasite and the etiologic agent of Nosemosis that affects honeybees. Beside the stress caused by this pathogen, honeybee colonies are exposed to pesticides under beekeeper intervention, such as acaricides to control Varroa mites. These compounds can accumulate at high concentrations in apicultural matrices. In this work, the effects of parasitosis/acaricide on genes involved in honeybee immunity and survival were evaluated. Nurse bees were infected with N. ceranae and/or were chronically treated with sublethal doses of coumaphos or tau-fluvalinate, the two most abundant pesticides recorded in productive hives. Our results demonstrate the following: (1) honeybee survival was not affected by any of the treatments; (2) parasite development was not altered by acaricide treatments; (3) coumaphos exposure decreased lysozyme expression; (4) N. ceranae reduced levels of vitellogenin transcripts independently of the presence of acaricides. However, combined effects among stressors on imagoes were not recorded. Sublethal doses of acaricides and their interaction with other ubiquitous parasites in colonies, extending the experimental time, are of particular interest in further research work.
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina. pmgarrid@mdp.edu.ar.
Paula Melisa
0000-0001-5989-4596
PM
Garrido
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Martín Pablo
MP
Porrini
Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Karina
K
Antúnez
Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Belén
B
Branchiccela
Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (INBIOTEC-CONICET), CIB-FIBA, Mar Del Plata, Argentina.
Giselle María Astrid
GM
Martínez-Noël
Departamento de Microbiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Pablo
P
Zunino
Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (INBIOTEC-CONICET), CIB-FIBA, Mar Del Plata, Argentina.
Graciela
G
Salerno
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Centro de Investigación en Abejas Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-CONICET, Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Martín Javier
MJ
Eguaras
Highland Statistics, 03130, Alicante, Spain.
Elena
E
Ieno
D056810:Acaricides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D007109:Immunity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D016881:Microsporidiosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D016818:Nosema; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D057077:Varroidae / Q000187:drug effects
D056810:Acaricides