| dc.description.abstract | Background: Apis mellifera is one of the most important arthropod species
for agriculture. Several factors are known to compromise their health, posing
a serious economic risk. Among these factors, pathogens and mainly parasites are especially important, including the single-celled fungi Vairimorpha apis
and Vairimorpha ceranae. Historically, V. ceranae was not considered to infect A.
mellifera; however, recently, it was found in this species as well and has become
more prominent worldwide.
Objective: During a shotgun metagenomic survey on honey bees’ gut bacteriome,
we found sequences originating from V. ceranae in all of our samples. Our findings of
this species in the Hungarian A. mellifera gut metagenome is presented in this study.
Materials and Methods: We have performed a climatically representative sampling on the Hungarian honey bee population in 2019. Twenty apiaries were selected
for the analysis and sampled twice in the honey-producing season, at its onset
(March) and peak (May). Shotgun metagenomic sequencing was performed to determine the microbiome composition of the samples. We have statistically analyzed
the differences in V. ceranae relative abundance between the two sampling times
and determined the effect of temperature and precipitation.
Results and Discussion: Reads classified as V. ceranae were found in all twenty
samples at both sampling times, which indicates that this species is widely distributed in Hungary. Interestingly, V. ceranae was significantly more abundant in
May, which could support the observations that the epidemiology of this species
indeed shows a seasonal pattern. Despite the previous importance of V. apis, we
were unable to identify this species in our samples. Considering the environmental
factors, V. ceranae was significantly more abundant in samples from regions with
higher precipitation in May. | en_US |
