近日刊登在國(guó)際雜志Science上的一篇研究報(bào)告中,，研究人員報(bào)告說(shuō),，在整個(gè)夏威夷蜜蜂群中的一種寄生螨的傳播使得一種曾經(jīng)無(wú)害的病毒能夠在這些有價(jià)值的昆蟲(chóng)群落中大肆生長(zhǎng)。在世界的其它地方,，這種螨和病毒的同時(shí)出現(xiàn)與大批蜂群的死亡時(shí)間一致,，盡管這種情況迄今還沒(méi)有在夏威夷發(fā)生。這種螨到達(dá)那里是相對(duì)近來(lái)的事件,，它們僅在某些島嶼上傳播,。
Stephen Martin及其同事在該螨侵襲的時(shí)候利用這一不同尋常的機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)監(jiān)測(cè)夏威夷的蜜蜂并了解該病毒是如何傳播和演化的。DWV自身可以感染蜜蜂,，但瓦螨可通過(guò)作為一種宿主和孵化器而一路給予其幫助,。這種螨的攝食行為還能使該病毒被直接傳輸?shù)矫鄯涞难h(huán)系統(tǒng)。文章的作者報(bào)告說(shuō),，瓦螨的介入使得DWV在蜜蜂群落中的流行情況從大約10%增加至100%,。
在蜜蜂體內(nèi)的病毒量也出現(xiàn)直線上升的情況，而病毒株的多樣性則出現(xiàn)相反的情況,。實(shí)際上,，只有一個(gè)DWV株現(xiàn)在在瓦螨感染的蜂群中占主導(dǎo)地位。文章的作者得出結(jié)論,，瓦螨的普遍蔓延選擇了那些已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)了的DWV變異株并使其成為地球上分布最廣泛且傳染性最強(qiáng)的昆蟲(chóng)病毒之一,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1126/science.1220941
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Global Honey Bee Viral Landscape Altered by a Parasitic Mite
Stephen J. Martin1,*, Andrea C. Highfield2, Laura Brettell1, Ethel M. Villalobos3, Giles E. Budge4, Michelle Powell4, Scott Nikaido3, Declan C. Schroeder2,*
Emerging diseases are among the greatest threats to honey bees. Unfortunately, where and when an emerging disease will appear are almost impossible to predict. The arrival of the parasitic Varroa mite into the Hawaiian honey bee population allowed us to investigate changes in the prevalence, load, and strain diversity of honey bee viruses. The mite increased the prevalence of a single viral species, deformed wing virus (DWV), from ~10 to 100% within honey bee populations, which was accompanied by a millionfold increase in viral titer and a massive reduction in DWV diversity, leading to the predominance of a single DWV strain. Therefore, the global spread of Varroa has selected DWV variants that have emerged to allow it to become one of the most widely distributed and contagious insect viruses on the planet.
