Monday, November 14, 2016
Construction and Rescue of a Molecular Clone of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)
The problem of honey bees being endangered has been brought to light a lot more in social media and the news lately. Honey bees are extremely important in the agriculture business and human nutrition. Deformed wing virus (DWV) is playing a major role in the colony mortality but not much is known about this virus. This virus comes from Varroa jacobsoni mite infestations which has been spread to every continent but Australia due to colony trade. The University of Vienna is trying to close the gap between field research and lab findings to complete an in-vitro model. At this point, colony survival depends on close supervision and help. Once a colony shows DWV symptoms, the colony is more than likely going to fail. DWV can lead to crippled wings and discoloration. A genomic sequence of DWV has been known since 2006 but there are a limited number of tools that are available for studying bee viruses in the lab. The researchers took infectious DWV from a molecular clone that produces DWV symptoms. Through newly made anti-AWV monoclonal antibodies, expression of DWV proteins, producing the virus' progeny, and host cell tropism could be confirmed. Koch's postulates were fulfilled so the virus did not need to be isolated and purified. From this research, a reverse genetics system was developed and applied for DWV pathogenesis. This provides a new basis to study the unknown aspects of DWV along with the molecular mechanisms behind transmission. This study covered the preliminary background needed to continue research to hopefully find a way to minimize the transmission of DWV before honey bees become extinct.
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Honey bees have been on my mind a lot lately. I don't think most) people realize how vital they are to our survival. While there are definitely other factors that are contributing to their decrease in numbers, solving the DWV issue would help with the decline.
ReplyDeleteBees are crucial to the survival of many plants and fruits and can cause a serious chain of events if they become extinct. If honey bees don't exist then certain nutrients will die off as well which could deplete other essential organisms.
ReplyDeletePlus, I really like honey.
I think this is one area of research that is most important today! I talked to a beekeeper not too long ago about it and even paid $7 for a beeswax chapstick to support his hive! I've tried to build a haven in my backyard because I think they are so cool and beautiful little creatures. I haven't heard about any research trying to resolve this issue so thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI had seen more news about the bees becoming endangered but I had always wondered how or what specifically was contributing to this. I didn't know that DWV was a thing strong enough to contribute to their endangerment. It's sad to know that because the colony will show symptoms, it is pretty much already set for failure! Hopefully there will be some research under way to help the cause!
ReplyDeleteSources?
ReplyDeleteFound at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0164639
DeleteYou never truly realize how important a species is until they are threatened in number by some way. I know that bees are important in our environment for pollination and honey, along with many other things. I did not now that there was a virus that affected their wings. The quick spread of this virus would place the mobility of the bees at a deficit because they would not be able to fly to get food, build their home, or pollinate. I'm glad that they chose to look into this and create the base of the study to find how to prevent this virus from effecting more bees.
ReplyDelete