PLB > Frankly, I found it disappointing. It reads like an encyclopedia summary of what we know, with little that's new.


I got the same impression of the overall summary but I did find parts of some sections interesting:

> Virus Symptoms and Their Significance 
Viral infection can also impair honey bees’ social immunity defenses. For example, DWV-infected honey bees are less able to differentiate between varroa-infested and noninfested pupae [64]. Moreover, ABPV-infected pupae are efficiently removed by varroa-sensitive hygienic (VSH) behavior (Figure 1D), while DWV-infected pupae are not [61], which favors varroa-mediated transmission of DWV over ABPV. Similarly, hygienic bees preferentially identify [41] and remove [62] pupae infected with the more virulent DWV-B variant, thus helping the less virulent DWV-A variant to persist in the population. Additionally, ABPV’s higher virulence results in higher colony winter mortality (and thus varroa death), allowing for the gradual displacement of ABPV by DWV in varroa-infested colonies [55]. Overall, varroa is both vector and host for certain bee viruses, particularly DWV-B, and is also behaviorally affected by both DWV and SBV [54], adding a whole new range of factors to the dynamic between varroa, bees, and viruses.

> Social Apoptosis
Brood frames transplanted from nonhygienic to hygienic hives and vice versa produced hygienic scores correlated with the donor colony, rather than the recipient colony [25,61,71]. While it is currently not known if this brood effect is a widespread phenomenon in A. mellifera, it could be an evolutionary remnant of the drastic social apoptosis strategy observed in A. cerana.

> Breeding Commercially Viable Resistant Stock
An integrative method, involving treatment by necessity, selective queen rearing, and culling of highly infested colonies, is recommended for those attempting to breed varroa-resistant bees. While field assays for measuring resistance traits, like the VSH and grooming tests, are prohibitive for large-scale beekeeping operations, marker-assisted selection via genetic or proteomic testing has been demonstrated to be economically viable [90]. However, if the speculated genotypic plasticity described above is occurring, that would mean that different honey bee populations may have different genetic or expression markers, which would complicate the utility of this approach. This hypothesis remains to be tested and will be an important step for determining the usefulness of this technique on a large geographic scale.

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I found it interesting that genotypic plasticity has the potential to complicate marker-assisted selective breeding.  Something that makes perfect sense but is none the less discouraging.  

Also, how virus-infected bees display impaired hygienic behavior which can, in turn, select for different strains of DWV -a kind of fascinating twist. 

Bill Hesbach
Cheshire Ct 




Bill Hesbach
Cheshire CT

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