[Pollinator] Fwd: Varroa Mite Research

[Ladadams at aol.com]

____________________________________
 From: Clock-Rust.Mary at epamail.epa.gov
To: lda at pollinator.org
Sent:  4/12/2012 7:18:43 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: Varroa Mite  Research


Mary Clock-Rust
US EPA, Office of Pesticide Programs
Phone: 703.308.2718
email: clock-rust.mary at epa.gov
Visit: _http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/_ (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/)    




_http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679_ 
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679)  

Cash to help fight pervasive honey bee  pest  
Varroa mites prey on bees and make them vulnerable to many  diseases 
_Continue reading the main  story_ 
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679)   
Related Stories  

_· Weather  changes 'confusing' bees_ 
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-17618071)   
_·  Bees tell predators to buzz  off_ 
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16981702)   
_· Listening in  for the healthy hum_ 
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16114890)   

Scientists are to  try to turn a honey bee parasite's natural defences 
against itself in a bid to  beat the pest.  
University of Aberdeen researchers  have won £250,000 to study how to 
subvert the varroa mite's immune system.   
The blood-sucking varroa mite is  endemic in many honey bee colonies and 
transmits lethal viruses to the  bees.  
Novel ways to tackle varroa are  needed because mites are becoming 
resistant to existing chemical  treatments.  
The cash will be used to extend a  completed study that showed how to 
target specific genes used by the mite.   
Potential targets  
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.  
"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.  
The knock-down technique attempts to  trick part of the bug's immune system 
into thinking that one of its genes is a  virus.  
Typically the part of the immune  system being subverted only tackles 
external threats in the form of a certain  types of RNA-based viruses.  
_Continue reading the main  story_ 
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17667679)   
“Start Quote  
Resistance to a single treatment can  often develop quite quickly”  
End Quote Dr Alan Bowman University of Aberdeen   
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.  
Varroa mites' genomes are being  sequenced to discover which genes are 
being actively expressed and are  potential targets.  
Dr Bowman hoped to have identified  likely genes by the autumn and to start 
small-scale trials in 2013.  
Beekeepers are being asked to send in  live varroa mites so the researchers 
have a stock of bugs on which to test  candidate treatments.  
Dr Bowman said it was unlikely that  the research would produce a treatment 
that would completely rid hives of the  pest.  
"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."  
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.  
"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.  
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.  
The pressure group estimates that it  would cost the UK about £1.8bn a year 
to hand-pollinate crops if all bees died  out.  
It has called on David Cameron to  back a national bee action plan that 
would limit urban expansion and pesticide  use.  


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/pollinator/attachments/20120413/497b83b0/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 56530 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/pollinator/attachments/20120413/497b83b0/attachment-0001.gif>