Rapid parallel evolution overcomes global honey bee parasite

Scientific Reports
Melissa A Y OddiePeter Neumann

Abstract

In eusocial insect colonies nestmates cooperate to combat parasites, a trait called social immunity. However, social immunity failed for Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) when the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor switched hosts from Eastern honey bees (Apis cerana). This mite has since become the most severe threat to A. mellifera world-wide. Despite this, some isolated A. mellifera populations are known to survive infestations by means of natural selection, largely by supressing mite reproduction, but the underlying mechanisms of this are poorly understood. Here, we show that a cost-effective social immunity mechanism has evolved rapidly and independently in four naturally V. destructor-surviving A. mellifera populations. Worker bees of all four 'surviving' populations uncapped/recapped worker brood cells more frequently and targeted mite-infested cells more effectively than workers in local susceptible colonies. Direct experiments confirmed the ability of uncapping/recapping to reduce mite reproductive success without sacrificing nestmates. Our results provide striking evidence that honey bees can overcome exotic parasites with simple qualitative and quantitative adaptive shifts in behaviour. Due to rapid, parallel evol...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Jun 6, 2019·Scientific Reports·Lars StraubPeter Neumann
Nov 5, 2020·Veterinary Sciences·Peter HristovBoyko Neov
Nov 29, 2020·Genetics, Selection, Evolution : GSE·Matthieu GuichardBenjamin Dainat
May 28, 2020·Trends in Parasitology·Kirsten S TraynorAlison McAfee
Jun 19, 2021·Ecology and Evolution·Arrigo MoroAlexis Beaurepaire
Aug 5, 2021·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Isobel Grindrod, Stephen J Martin
Sep 8, 2021·Scientific Reports·Ivelina Ivanova, Kaspar Bienefeld
Oct 13, 2021·Parasitology Research·Miguel VisintiniAgostina Giacobino
May 6, 2021·Genome Research·Bertrand FouksOlav Rueppell

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
dissecting
dissections

Software Mentioned

GLMEM
R
lsmeans
RVAideMemoire

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