Epidemiological Study and Phylogenetic analysis of Common Pathogenic Viruses of Honeybee in Apiaries of Iran

Several agents such as bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses can infect honey bees in apiculture. Viruses are one of the most important threats to the health of honeybees. The aim of this research was to diagnose common honeybee pathogenic viruses including Acute Bee Paralysis Virus (ABPV), Black Queen Cell Virus (BQCV), Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV, Deformed Wing Defect (DWV), Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV) and Sacbrood Virus (SBV) in apiaries all over the country. From Autumn to Winter ۲۰۲۲, honey bee samples were randomly collected from ۳۱ provinces of the country. After samples preparation and RNA extraction, the target fragments were amplified and accomplished using RT-PCR method. Desired standard viruses and distilled water were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The PCR products were sequenced and compared with the Genbank database. Results showed that out of ۲۷۴ samples from apiaries, ۲۱ (۷.۶۶%), ۲۱ (۷.۶۶%), ۱۱ (۴.۰۱%), ۲۴۷ (۹۰.۱۵%), ۳۱ (۱۱.۱%) and ۹۱ (۳۳.۲۱%) were positive for ABPV, BQCV, CBPV, DWV, KBV and SBV, respectively. The highest level of infection was related to DWV and SBV viruses and the lowest level of infection was related to CBPV virus. All provinces were infected with at least one virus, and in some provinces, all studied viruses were observed in apiaries. The sequencing results confirmed the RT-PCR results. Phylogenetic analysis showed the occurrence of several mutations in the total sequences in all studied viruses. The presence of viral infections in the country's apiaries shows that viral diseases should be noticed as significant problem and special management should be considered to solve it.

Keywords:

honey bee , Phylogenetic analysis , Epidemiological Study , RT-PCR , Pathogenic viruses