[Pollinator] Fwd: CATCH THE BUZZ - VIRUSES, HONEY BEES AND POLLINATORS

Thu Dec 23 11:21:05 PST 2010

Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
Pollinator  Partnership
P 415 362 1137
F 415 362 3070
423 Washington Street, 5th  Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
_www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 
_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 
LDA at pollinator.org  

Take Action for Pollinators at _www.pollinator.org_ 
(http://www.pollinator.org/)  

____________________________________
 From: Kim at BeeCulture.com
To: LDA at pollinator.org
Sent: 12/22/2010 6:31:34  P.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: CATCH THE BUZZ - VIRUSES, HONEY BEES AND  POLLINATORS

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CATCH  THE BUZZ  

Movement and  threat of RNA viruses  widespread in pollinator community  

Penn  State researchers have  found that native pollinators, like wild bees 
and wasps, are infected by the  same viral diseases as honey bees and that 
these viruses are transmitted via  pollen. Their research published on 
December 22nd in PLoS  ONE, an online  open-access journal for the communication 
of all peer-reviewed scientific and  medical research.  
_This multi-institutional study_ 
(http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014357)  provides new insights  into viral infections in native pollinators, 
suggesting that viral diseases  may be key factors impacting pollinator 
populations.  
According  to Diana Cox-Foster, co-author and professor of entomology at  
Penn  State, pollinator  populations have declined for various reasons, 
including ribonucleic acid  (RNA) viruses, which  are emerging as a serious 
threat. "RNA viruses are suspected as major  contributors to Colony Collapse 
Disorder (CCD ), where honey bee colonies die  with few or no bees left in the 
hives. Recent detection of these viral species  in bumble bees and other 
native pollinators indicates a possible wider  environmental spread of these 
viruses with potential broader impact," explains  Cox-Foster.  
The  researchers studied viral distributions from pollen pellets of honey 
bees and  other pollinators collected from flowering plants in  Pennsylvania, 
 New  York, and  Illinois in the  United  States. "For the first  time, RNA 
viruses such as  deformed wing virus, sacbrood virus and black queen cell 
virus were detected  in pollen pellets collected directly from forager bees," 
said Cox-Foster.  "Pollen pellets from several uninfected forager bees were 
detected with virus,  indicating that pollen itself may harbor viruses. The 
viruses in the pollen  and honey stored in the hive were demonstrated to be 
infective, with the queen  becoming infected and laying infected eggs after 
these virus-contaminated  foods were given to virus-free colonies."  
The  detection of RNA viruses in other  pollinators, including bumble bees, 
solitary bees and wasps, suggests that  viruses might have a deeper impact 
on ecosystem health , given that these  pollinators are essential to most 
plants for seed set and production of  fruits, nuts, berries, and vegetables. 
The findings are important to the  public and scientific community 
worldwide, given pollinators' role in  agriculture and the environment and recent 
declines in native pollinators. The  findings also raise biosecurity issues 
because pollen is currently being  imported into many countries to feed honey 
bees used in agricultural  pollination.  
Competing  Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests 
exist.  
Funding:  Funding for this study was provided by Pennsylvania Department of 
Agriculture  (_www.agriculture.state.pa.us_ 
(http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/) ) (grant ME 446716  awarded to DCF and NO), Hatch funds from the 
Experiment Station,  Pennsylvania  State  University (_research.cas.psu.edu_ 
(http://research.cas.psu.edu/) )  (awarded to ER and RS), Integrated Pest 
Management Collaborative Research  Support Program (IPM CRSP) USAID Cooperative 
agreement No.  EPP-A-00-04-00016-00 (_www.oired.vt.edu/ipmcrsp_ 
(http://www.oired.vt.edu/ipmcrsp) ) (awarded to ER), and  a honey bee health improvement 
project grant from North American Pollinator  Protection Campaign (NAPPC; 
_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) ) awarded to RS. The funders had  no 
role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or  
preparation of the manuscript.  
Citation: Singh  R, Levitt AL, Rajotte EG, Holmes EC, Ostiguy N, et al. 
(2010)  RNA Viruses in Hymenopteran Pollinators: Evidence of  Inter-Taxa Virus 
Transmission via Pollen and Potential Impact on Non-Apis  Hymenopteran 
Species. PLoS ONE  5(12): e14357. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014357  

____________________________________
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