Host range expansion of honey bee Black Queen Cell Virus in the bumble bee, Bombus huntii

• DOI: 10.1007/s13592-011-0061-5
• Publication Date: 2011-07-06T19:48:04Z
• Authors: Wenjun Peng; Jilian Li; Humberto Boncrist...; James P. Strange; Michele Hamilton; Yanping Chen
• Keywords: [SDV.BA.ZI]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Invertebrate Zoology; [SDV.EE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology, environment; 0106 biological sciences; bumble bee; Black queen cell virus; [SDV.SA.SPA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Animal production studies; Bombus huntii; host range; [SDV.BID]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity; 01 natural sciences; 3. Good health

Here we provide the first evidence that Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV), one of the most prevalent honey bee viruses, can cause an infection in bumble bees, Bombus huntii, and that the BQCV infection could spread to different tissues of bumble bees. The detection of negative strand RNA of BQCV, an indicator of active virus replication, in the gut of B. huntii suggests that virus particles replicate within the gut and then cross the gut lining to other tissues through hemolymph circulation. The observation of active replication of the BQCV in the gut, together with the fact that BQCV was more widespread in the body of field-collected bees than that of lab-reared bees, implies a possible association between the foraging activities of bumble bees and virus transmission. The fact that bumble bees and honey bees are able to share nectar and pollen resources in the same field suggests that geographical proximity of two host species could play a role in host range breadth of BQCV.