RT Journal Article
T1 Frequent Parasitism of Apis mellifera by Trypanosomatids in Geographically Isolated Areas with Restricted Beekeeping Movements
A1 Aguado López, Daniel
A1 Bartolomé Husson, Carolina
A1 Lopes, Ana Rita
A1 Henriques, Dora
A1 Kafafi Segura, Sara
A1 Maside Rodríguez, Xulio Manuel
A1 Pinto, M. Alice
A1 Higes Pascual, Mariano
A1 Martín Hernández, Raquel
K1 Honey bee
K1 Trypanosomatids
K1 Lotmaria passim
K1 PCR
K1 Sequencing
K1 Varroa destructor
AB Trypanosomatids form a group of high prevalence protozoa that parasitise honey bees, with Lotmaria passim as the predominant species worldwide. However, the knowledge about the ecology of trypanosomatids in isolated areas is limited. The Portuguese archipelagos of Madeira and Azores provide an interesting setting to investigate these parasites because of their geographic isolation, and because they harbour honey bee populations devoid of two major enemies: Varroa destructor and Nosema ceranae. Hence, a total of 661 honey bee colonies from Madeira and the Azores were analysed using different molecular techniques, through which we found a high prevalence of trypanosomatids despite the isolation of these islands. L. passim was the predominant species and, in most colonies, was the only one found, even on islands free of V. destructor and/or N. ceranae with severe restrictions on colony movements to prevent the spread of them. However, islands with V. destructor had a significantly higher prevalence of L. passim and, conversely, islands with N. ceranae did not shown any significant correlation with the trypanosomatid. Crithidia bombi was detected in Madeira and on three islands of the Azores, almost always coincident with L. passim. By contrast, Crithidia mellificae was not detected in any sample. A high-throughput sequencing analysis distinguished two main haplotypes of L. passim, which accounted for 98% of the total sequence reads. This work suggests that L. passim and C. bombi are parasites that have been associated with honey bees predating the spread of V. destructor and N. ceranae
PB Springer Nature
SN 0095-3628
YR 2023
FD 2023-07-22
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38800
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/38800
LA eng
NO Aguado-López, D., Bartolomé, C., Lopes, A.R. et al. Frequent Parasitism of Apis mellifera by Trypanosomatids in Geographically Isolated Areas with Restricted Beekeeping Movements. Microb Ecol 86, 2655–2665 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-023-02266-y
DS Minerva
RD 4 may 2026