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Subject:
From:
Juanse Barros <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:40:15 -0300
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Host adaptations reduce the reproductive success of Varroa
destructor in two distinct European honey bee populations
Barbara Locke, Yves Le Conte, Didier Crauser & Ingemar Fries

Ecology and Evolution 2012; 2(6):
1144–1150
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.248/pdf

Abstract
Honey bee societies (Apis mellifera), the ectoparasitic mite Varroa
destructor, and honey bee viruses that are vectored by the mite, form a
complex system of host–parasite interactions. Coevolution by natural
selection in this system has been hindered for European honey bee hosts
since apicultural practices remove the mite and consequently the selective
pressures required for such a process. An increasing mite population means
increasing transmission opportunities for viruses that can quickly develop
into severe infections, killing a bee colony. Remarkably, a few
subpopulations in Europe have survived mite infestation for extended
periods of over 10 years without management by beekeepers and offer the
possibility to study their natural host–parasite coevolution. Our study
shows that two of these "natural" honey bee populations, in Avignon, France
and Gotland, Sweden, have in fact evolved resistant traits that reduce the
fitness of the mite (measured as the reproductive success), thereby
reducing the parasitic load within the colony to evade
the development of overt viral infections. Mite reproductive success was
reduced by about 30% in both populations. Detailed examinations of mite
reproductive parameters suggest these geographically and genetically
distinct populations favor different mechanisms of resistance, even though
they have experienced similar selection pressures of mite infestation.
Compared to unrelated control colonies in the same location, mites in the
Avignon population had high levels of infertility while in Gotland there
was a higher proportions of mites that delayed initiation of egg-laying.
Possible explanations for the observed rapid coevolution are discussed.

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