Deformed Wing Virus, A Major Factor to High Mortality Rate Among Honey Bees

Bees face a whole lot of threats from the environment. A group of Austrian scientists is of the view that one of them is not appreciated, without much studies being conducted.

According to researchers, the rate of infection of the fatal deformed wing virus, an RNA virus, spread by the parasite Varroa mites. to honey bees, is the biggest and most important factor that determines the mortality of bee colonies.

Previous studies to examine the virus have been based on natural samples gathered from affected bees. Benjamin Lamp, researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, said in a news release that multiple and mixed infections can tamper the outcomes of such tests. To make this test as accurate as possible, Lamp and his team created samples of deformed wing virus from the group with the help of synthetic genetic material.

"The genetic RNA sample of a virus was initially amplified and saved as a DNA copy," said Lamp. "The molecular clone that was produced enabled them to build artificial viruses, which were genetically defined and similar."

Some of the traits that were seen among bees exposed to the virus were deformed wings, dwarfism, discoloration and even death. The new study will now allow researchers to precisely observe and examine the life cycle of the virus. Scientists can also now know the process on how the virus gets transmitted. Tests done in the past have showed that the virus is transmitted from one bee to the other orally.

According to Lamp, a bee may be infected with more than one virus in most cases. And the new test can show exactly how this happens and point out the viruses that are extremely detrimental along with the behavior of viruses in cases of multiple infections, he said. This way, the team can come up with targeted strategies to combat these viruses.