Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker Bees

Nosemosis type C is a dangerous and widespread disease of the adult European honey bee <i>Apis mellifera</i> and is caused by the spore-forming intracellular parasite <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i>. The search for new ways of therapy for this disease is complicated due t...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anastasia N. Ignatieva, Sergey A. Timofeev, Yuri S. Tokarev, Viacheslav V. Dolgikh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-11-01
Series:Insects
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/12/1092
_version_ 1797457123278323712
author Anastasia N. Ignatieva
Sergey A. Timofeev
Yuri S. Tokarev
Viacheslav V. Dolgikh
author_facet Anastasia N. Ignatieva
Sergey A. Timofeev
Yuri S. Tokarev
Viacheslav V. Dolgikh
author_sort Anastasia N. Ignatieva
collection DOAJ
description Nosemosis type C is a dangerous and widespread disease of the adult European honey bee <i>Apis mellifera</i> and is caused by the spore-forming intracellular parasite <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i>. The search for new ways of therapy for this disease is complicated due to the seasonal availability of <i>V. ceranae</i>-infected insects as well as the lack of a developed system for the pathogen’s cultivation. By carrying out trials which used different infectious dosages of the parasite, spore storage protocols, host age, and incubation temperatures, we present a simple, safe, and efficient method of <i>V. ceranae</i> propagation in artificially infected worker bees in the laboratory. The method is based on feeding the groups of adult worker bees with microsporidian spores and insect maintenance in plastic bottles at 33 °C. The source of the spores originated from the cadavers of infected insects from the previous round of cultivation, in which the infective spores persist for up to six months. An analysis of five independent cultivation rounds involving more than 2500 bees showed that the proposed protocol exploiting the dosage of one million spores per bee yielded over 60 million <i>V. ceranae</i> spores per bee, and most of the spore samples can be isolated from living insects.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T16:17:39Z
format Article
id doaj.art-54f0efcb3bd34a42a5b1ca25f92637a1
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2075-4450
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T16:17:39Z
publishDate 2022-11-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Insects
spelling doaj.art-54f0efcb3bd34a42a5b1ca25f92637a12023-11-24T15:39:00ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502022-11-011312109210.3390/insects13121092Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker BeesAnastasia N. Ignatieva0Sergey A. Timofeev1Yuri S. Tokarev2Viacheslav V. Dolgikh3All-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, Podbelskogo 3, 196608 St. Petersburg, RussiaAll-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, Podbelskogo 3, 196608 St. Petersburg, RussiaAll-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, Podbelskogo 3, 196608 St. Petersburg, RussiaAll-Russian Institute of Plant Protection, Podbelskogo 3, 196608 St. Petersburg, RussiaNosemosis type C is a dangerous and widespread disease of the adult European honey bee <i>Apis mellifera</i> and is caused by the spore-forming intracellular parasite <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i>. The search for new ways of therapy for this disease is complicated due to the seasonal availability of <i>V. ceranae</i>-infected insects as well as the lack of a developed system for the pathogen’s cultivation. By carrying out trials which used different infectious dosages of the parasite, spore storage protocols, host age, and incubation temperatures, we present a simple, safe, and efficient method of <i>V. ceranae</i> propagation in artificially infected worker bees in the laboratory. The method is based on feeding the groups of adult worker bees with microsporidian spores and insect maintenance in plastic bottles at 33 °C. The source of the spores originated from the cadavers of infected insects from the previous round of cultivation, in which the infective spores persist for up to six months. An analysis of five independent cultivation rounds involving more than 2500 bees showed that the proposed protocol exploiting the dosage of one million spores per bee yielded over 60 million <i>V. ceranae</i> spores per bee, and most of the spore samples can be isolated from living insects.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/12/1092<i>Nosema ceranae</i><i>Vairimorpha ceranae</i><i>Apis mellifera</i>nosemosiscultivationartificial infection
spellingShingle Anastasia N. Ignatieva
Sergey A. Timofeev
Yuri S. Tokarev
Viacheslav V. Dolgikh
Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker Bees
Insects
<i>Nosema ceranae</i>
<i>Vairimorpha ceranae</i>
<i>Apis mellifera</i>
nosemosis
cultivation
artificial infection
title Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker Bees
title_full Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker Bees
title_fullStr Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker Bees
title_full_unstemmed Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker Bees
title_short Laboratory Cultivation of <i>Vairimorpha (Nosema) ceranae</i> (Microsporidia: Nosematidae) in Artificially Infected Worker Bees
title_sort laboratory cultivation of i vairimorpha nosema ceranae i microsporidia nosematidae in artificially infected worker bees
topic <i>Nosema ceranae</i>
<i>Vairimorpha ceranae</i>
<i>Apis mellifera</i>
nosemosis
cultivation
artificial infection
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/12/1092
work_keys_str_mv AT anastasianignatieva laboratorycultivationofivairimorphanosemaceranaeimicrosporidianosematidaeinartificiallyinfectedworkerbees
AT sergeyatimofeev laboratorycultivationofivairimorphanosemaceranaeimicrosporidianosematidaeinartificiallyinfectedworkerbees
AT yuristokarev laboratorycultivationofivairimorphanosemaceranaeimicrosporidianosematidaeinartificiallyinfectedworkerbees
AT viacheslavvdolgikh laboratorycultivationofivairimorphanosemaceranaeimicrosporidianosematidaeinartificiallyinfectedworkerbees