Host specificity in the honeybee parasitic mite, Varroa spp. in Apis mellifera and Apis cerana
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Date
Authors
Beaurepaire, Alexis L.
Truong, Tuan A.
Fajardo, Alejandro C.
Dinh, Tam Q.
Cervancia, Cleofas R.
Moritz, Robin F.A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is a major global threat to the Western honeybee
Apis mellifera. This mite was originally a parasite of A. cerana in Asia but managed to spill
over into colonies of A. mellifera which had been introduced to this continent for honey production.
To date, only two almost clonal types of V. destructor from Korea and Japan have
been detected in A. mellifera colonies. However, since both A. mellifera and A. cerana colonies
are kept in close proximity throughout Asia, not only new spill overs but also spill backs
of highly virulent types may be possible, with unpredictable consequences for both honeybee
species. We studied the dispersal and hybridisation potential of Varroa from sympatric
colonies of the two hosts in Northern Vietnam and the Philippines using mitochondrial and
microsatellite DNA markers. We found a very distinct mtDNA haplotype equally invading
both A. mellifera and A. cerana in the Philippines. In contrast, we observed a complete
reproductive isolation of various Vietnamese Varroa populations in A. mellifera and A. cerana
colonies even if kept in the same apiaries. In light of this variance in host specificity, the
adaptation of the mite to its hosts seems to have generated much more genetic diversity
than previously recognised and the Varroa species complex may include substantial cryptic
speciation.
Description
S1 Fig. Maximum likelihood Tree. Phylogenetic tree representing the sequences generated in
this study and the sequences generated with the same primers by Navajas et al. (2010). The tree
is based on a partial deletion model, with nodes representing values for 1000 bootstraps. Viet:
samples from Vietnam (this study); SL: Son La, DB: Dien Bien, CB: Cat Ba; Phil: samples from
the Philippines (this study); Nav: from Navajas et al. (2010).
S1 Table. Information on the Accessions
S2 Table. Results of the Population Differentiation between hosts and sampling locations (Jost’s D).
S1 Table. Information on the Accessions
S2 Table. Results of the Population Differentiation between hosts and sampling locations (Jost’s D).
Keywords
Varroa destructor, Honeybee (Apis mellifera), Mite, DNA markers
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Beaurepaire AL, Truong TA, Fajardo AC, Dinh TQ, Cervancia C, Moritz RFA (2015) Host Specificity in the Honeybee Parasitic Mite, Varroa spp. in Apis mellifera and Apis cerana. PLoS ONE 10(8): e0135103. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135103.