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From: Clock-Rust.Mary@epamail.epa.gov<BR>To: lda@pollinator.org<BR>Sent:
4/12/2012 7:18:43 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time<BR>Subj: Varroa Mite
Research<BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<P><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif>Mary Clock-Rust</FONT><BR><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif>US EPA, Office of Pesticide Programs</FONT><BR><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif>Phone: 703.308.2718</FONT><BR><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif>email: clock-rust.mary@epa.gov</FONT><BR><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif>Visit: <A title=http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ href="http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/">http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/</A></FONT>
<P>
<UL style="PADDING-LEFT: 0pt"><BR><BR><BR><BR><A title=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679 href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679"><FONT color=#004080 size=2 face=sans-serif><B>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679</B></FONT></A><FONT size=2 face=sans-serif> </FONT></UL><BR>
<P><FONT size=6 face=Arial><B>Cash to help fight pervasive honey bee
pest</B></FONT>
<P><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA1.1334293252@aol.com" width=304 height=228 DATASIZE="56530" ID="MA1.1334293252" ><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Varroa mites prey on bees and make them vulnerable to many
diseases </FONT><BR><A title=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679 href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679"><FONT color=#004080 size=2 face=Arial><B>Continue reading the main
story</B></FONT></A><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial><B>Related Stories</B></FONT>
<UL style="PADDING-LEFT: 18pt"><BR><A title=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-17618071 href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-17618071"><FONT size=2 face=Symbol>· </FONT><FONT color=#004080 size=2 face=Arial><B>Weather
changes 'confusing' bees</B></FONT></A><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </FONT>
<P><A title=http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16981702 href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16981702"><FONT size=2 face=Symbol>·
</FONT><FONT color=#004080 size=2 face=Arial><B>Bees tell predators to buzz
off</B></FONT></A><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </FONT>
<P><A title=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16114890 href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16114890"><FONT size=2 face=Symbol>· </FONT><FONT color=#004080 size=2 face=Arial><B>Listening in
for the healthy hum</B></FONT></A><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
</FONT></P></UL><BR><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Scientists are to
try to turn a honey bee parasite's natural defences against itself in a bid to
beat the pest.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>University of Aberdeen researchers
have won £250,000 to study how to subvert the varroa mite's immune system.
</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>The blood-sucking varroa mite is
endemic in many honey bee colonies and transmits lethal viruses to the
bees.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Novel ways to tackle varroa are
needed because mites are becoming resistant to existing chemical
treatments.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>The cash will be used to extend a
completed study that showed how to target specific genes used by the mite.
</FONT>
<P><FONT size=3 face=Arial><B>Potential targets</B></FONT><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>So far, said Dr Alan Bowman of the
University of Aberdeen who is leading the project, this "knock-down" approach
has only been used to home in on non-lethal genes. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>"The next step is to continue finding
which are the best genes that will kill them quickly at very low doses and
then we'll move on out to field trials when we'll be working with the National
Bee Unit," said Dr Bowman.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>The knock-down technique attempts to
trick part of the bug's immune system into thinking that one of its genes is a
virus. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Typically the part of the immune
system being subverted only tackles external threats in the form of a certain
types of RNA-based viruses. </FONT>
<P><A title=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679 href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679"><FONT color=#004080 size=2 face=Arial><B>Continue reading the main
story</B></FONT></A><FONT size=2 face=Arial> </FONT>
<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial><B>“Start Quote</B></FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Resistance to a single treatment can
often develop quite quickly”</FONT>
<P><FONT size=2 face=Arial>End Quote Dr Alan Bowman University of Aberdeen
</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>As active genes also use RNA, it
should be possible to subvert this defence mechanism by making it think one of
the genes keeping the mite living is actually an invader.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Varroa mites' genomes are being
sequenced to discover which genes are being actively expressed and are
potential targets.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Dr Bowman hoped to have identified
likely genes by the autumn and to start small-scale trials in 2013. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Beekeepers are being asked to send in
live varroa mites so the researchers have a stock of bugs on which to test
candidate treatments. </FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Dr Bowman said it was unlikely that
the research would produce a treatment that would completely rid hives of the
pest.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>"I do not think we are expecting any
silver bullets and it's probably the wrong approach to look for them these
days," he said. "It'll be another piece in the arsenal and at the moment it's
a very small arsenal."</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Max Watkins, technical director of
Vita Europe, which is providing some of the research money, said finding
treatments that kill mites but leave bees and the environment unharmed was
very difficult.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>"The challenge is heightened because
the relatively short life cycle of the varroa mite means that resistance to a
single treatment can often develop quite quickly," he said.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>Honey bees, solitary bees and bumble
bees play a hugely important role in pollinating crops, said Friends of the
Earth as it kicked off its Bee Cause campaign.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>The pressure group estimates that it
would cost the UK about £1.8bn a year to hand-pollinate crops if all bees died
out.</FONT>
<P><FONT color=#2f2f2f size=2 face=Arial>It has called on David Cameron to
back a national bee action plan that would limit urban expansion and pesticide
use.</FONT>
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