scholarly journals Foodborne Transmission of Deformed Wing Virus to Ants (Myrmica rubra)

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schläppi ◽  
Lattrell ◽  
Yañez ◽  
Chejanovsky ◽  
Neumann

Virus host shifts occur frequently, but the whole range of host species and the actual transmission pathways are often poorly understood. Deformed wing virus (DWV), an RNA virus described from honeybees (Apis mellifera), has been shown to have a broad host range. Since ants are often scavenging on dead honeybees, foodborne transmission of these viruses may occur. However, the role of the ant Myrmica rubra as an alternative host is not known and foodborne transmission to ants has not been experimentally addressed yet. Here, we show with a 16-week feeding experiment that foodborne transmission enables DWV type-A and -B to infect M. rubra and that these ants may serve as a virus reservoir. However, the titers of both plus- and minus-sense viral RNA strands decreased over time. Since the ants were fed with highly virus-saturated honeybee pupae, this probably resulted in initial viral peaks, then approaching lower equilibrium titers in infected individuals later. Since DWV infections were also found in untreated field-collected M. rubra colonies, our results support the wide host range of DWV and further suggest foodborne transmission as a so far underestimated spread mechanism.

2005 ◽  
Vol 386 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Welfle ◽  
Florencia Pratto ◽  
Rolf Misselwitz ◽  
Joachim Behlke ◽  
Juan C. Alonso ◽  
...  

AbstractThe dimeric regulatory protein wild-type ω (wt ω


1998 ◽  
Vol 180 (22) ◽  
pp. 6023-6030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla L. Easter ◽  
Helmut Schwab ◽  
Donald R. Helinski

ABSTRACT The par region of the stably maintained broad-host-range plasmid RK2 is organized as two divergent operons,parCBA and parDE, and a cis-acting site. parDE encodes a postsegregational killing system, andparCBA encodes a resolvase (ParA), a nuclease (ParB), and a protein of unknown function (ParC). The present study was undertaken to further delineate the role of the parCBA region in the stable maintenance of RK2 by first introducing precise deletions in the three genes and then assessing the abilities of the different constructs to stabilize RK2 in three strains of Escherichia coli and two strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The intact parCBA operon was effective in stabilizing a conjugation-defective RK2 derivative in E. coli MC1061K and RR1 but was relatively ineffective in E. coli MV10Δlac. In the two strains in which the parCBA operon was effective, deletions in parB, parC, or bothparB and parC caused an approximately twofold reduction in the stabilizing ability of the operon, while a deletion in the parA gene resulted in a much greater loss ofparCBA activity. For P. aeruginosaPAO1161Rifr, the parCBA operon provided little if any plasmid stability, but for P. aeruginosaPAC452Rifr, the RK2 plasmid was stabilized to a substantial extent by parCBA. With this latter strain, parAand res alone were sufficient for stabilization. Thecer resolvase system of plasmid ColE1 and theloxP/Cre system of plasmid P1 were tested in comparison with the parCBA operon. We found that, not unlike what was previously observed with MC1061K, cer failed to stabilize the RK2 plasmid with par deletions in strain MV10Δlac, but this multimer resolution system was effective in stabilizing the plasmid in strain RR1. The loxP/Cre system, on the other hand, was very effective in stabilizing the plasmid in all threeE. coli strains. These observations indicate that theparA gene, along with its res site, exhibits a significant level of plasmid stabilization in the absence of theparC and parB genes but that in at least oneE. coli strain, all three genes are required for maximum stabilization. It cannot be determined from these results whether or not the stabilization effects seen with parCBA or thecer and loxP/Cre systems are strictly due to a reduction in the level of RK2 dimers and an increase in the number of plasmid monomer units or if these systems play a role in a more complex process of plasmid stabilization that requires as an essential step the resolution of plasmid dimers.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Elmerdahl Olsen ◽  
Kirsten Hobolt Hoegh-Andersen ◽  
Josep Casadesús ◽  
Jesper Rosenkranzt ◽  
Mark Simon Chadfield ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-34
Author(s):  
Sofia V. Sokornova ◽  
Elena L. Gasich ◽  
Victoria D. Bemova ◽  
Tatiana V. Matveeva

In nature there are species containing homologs of T-DNA genes of agrobacteria (сT-DNA) in their genomes. Such plants are called naturally transgenic ones. Interaction with the microbiota is one of the possible functions of cT-DNA, discussed in the literature. Linaria plants are the most suitable for the investigation of the probable ecological role of T-DNA, since they widely spread. The first stage in the evaluation of plant-microbial interactions involving these plants is the description of isolates with contrasting virulence for toadflax. The search and DNA-barcoding of such isolates of Phoma-like fungi was the goal of this work. 14 strains isolated from the plants of the families Plantaginaceae and Scrophullariaceae were analyzed. The of multilocus analysis included amplification and sequencing of internal transcribed spacers, a large subunit of RNA, a tubulin gene. Based on molecular data, 9 strains were assigned to the species Boeremia exigua, which has a wide range of habitats and a wide specialization. Strains of this species were virulent against L. vulgaris, but differed in aggressiveness with respect to this plant. Thus, a collection of strains was characterized, which can later be used for a more detailed study of the immune response of the naturally-transgenic L. vulgaris plant in response to inoculation with the B. exigua phytopathogen. As a result of the work, we identified the narrow host range fungi Heterophoma novae-verbascicola, and broad host range pathogens Plectosphaerella cucumerina, Phoma herbarum and Trichothecium roseum. Among them, only P. cucumerina was a weak pathogen of L. vulgaris. These results confirm the early data on the depleted mycobiota of L. vulgaris.


2012 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 1410-1413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Jechalke ◽  
Simone Dealtry ◽  
Kornelia Smalla ◽  
Holger Heuer

ABSTRACTTo study the role of broad-host-range IncP-1 plasmids in bacterial adaptability to irregular environmental challenges, a quantitative real-time PCR assay was developed that specifically detects thekorBgene, which is conserved in all IncP-1 plasmids, in environmental samples. IncP-1 plasmid dynamics in a biopurification system for pesticide wastes were analyzed.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 874
Author(s):  
Karen Power ◽  
Manuela Martano ◽  
Gennaro Altamura ◽  
Nadia Piscopo ◽  
Paola Maiolino

Deformed wing virus (DWV) is capable of infecting honeybees at every stage of development causing symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. To date, very little is known about the histopathological lesions caused by the virus. Therefore, 40 honeybee samples were randomly collected from a naturally DWV infected hive and subjected to anatomopathological examination to discriminate between symptomatic (29) and asymptomatic (11) honeybees. Subsequently, 15 honeybee samples were frozen at −80° and analyzed by PCR and RTqPCR to determinate the presence/absence of the virus and the relative viral load, while 25 honeybee samples were analyzed by histopathological techniques. Biomolecular results showed a fragment of the expected size (69bp) of DWV in all samples and the viral load was higher in symptomatic honeybees compared to the asymptomatic group. Histopathological results showed degenerative alterations of the hypopharyngeal glands (19/25) and flight muscles (6/25) in symptomatic samples while 4/25 asymptomatic samples showed an inflammatory response in the midgut and the hemocele. Results suggest a possible pathogenic action of DWV in both symptomatic and asymptomatic honeybees, and a role of the immune response in keeping under control the virus in asymptomatic individuals.


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