Prevalence of Deformed wing virus and Chronic bee paralysis virus in Honey Bee Colonies of Bingöl province, Turkey

Abstract

Viruses infecting honey bees are diseases that cause infection and economic damage in every developmental stage of honey bees all over the world. In this study, a survey was conducted to determine the presence and prevalence of two worldwide common honeybee viruses (deformed wing virus [DWV] and chronic bee paralysis virus [CBPV]). 128 apiaries from 9 different localities in the province of Bingöl were visited to determine viral RNA. Collected 384 honey bee samples were tested molecularly (reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, RTPCR) using genome-specific primers specific to each virus. In molecular tests, 28 of 128 apiaries (21.87%) gave a positive reaction for DWV, but no CBPV pathogen was detected in any apiary. The 711 bp nucleotide sequence revealed by cloning one of the randomly selected positive samples was registered in the gene bank with the accession number MZ357973. According to the BLASTn analysis in the NCBI database, the nucleotide sequence of the DWV agent determined in Bingöl Province showed nucleotide similarity between 77.82-98.45% when compared to other isolates of the same virus. In addition, our isolate was found to be in a close phylogenetic relationship with the Erzincan-DWV isolate from Turkey, based on the phylogenetic tree using isolates from different origins. According to our literature screening, this study is the first record that reveals the prevalence and the presence of DWV and CBPV in Bingöl Province with DNA-based approaches.