Hi all
A lot of researchers have continued to investigate the mechanisms of immune response to viruses and other pathogens. One of this is Michelle Flenniken, with the Department of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, Bozeman, MT. She (and her colleagues) are examining the "prominent role of a non-sequence specific, dsRNA-triggered, virus limiting response in honey bees and bumble bees." They write:
The parallels that exist between the antiviral responses, including the general, non-sequence specific dsRNA-triggered induction of an antiviral state, in organisms separated by large evolutionary distances including honey bees, bumble bees, sand flies, shrimp, oysters, and mammals, are very intriguing.
Furthermore, it is interesting to hypothesize that in social bees this response may have evolved to rapidly respond to viruses and limit their transmission in the crowded hive environment and in the context of behaviors (e.g., trophallaxis) that promote virus transmission between individuals within the super-organism.
Under-explored, burgeoning research areas include elucidation of the roles of alternative splicing, epigenetic regulation, and transgenerational immune priming in bee antiviral defense.
Further examination of antiviral RNAi, including immune memory as a consequence of RNA virus integration into the bee genome and potential transposon-mediated amplification of virus-targeting secondary RNAs is also important.
McMenamin, A., Daughenbaugh, K., Parekh, F., Pizzorno, M., & Flenniken, M. (2018). Honey Bee and Bumble Bee Antiviral Defense. Viruses, 10(8), 395.
ΒΆ
Papers like this are epic! This one runs 11 pages of reporting and another 11 pages of references, over 200 references. Of course, I can't follow all of it, but they are uncovering biology that no one imagined, which applies not only to honey bees but bees in general and other organisms as well. This is an amazing time to be working in science, if you have the head for it. And the money...
PLB
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