Transcriptomic Responses of the Honey Bee Brain to Infection with Deformed Wing Virus

Publication Date

2-13-2021

Description

Managed colonies of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) are under threat from Varroa destructor mite infestation and infection with viruses vectored by mites. In particular, deformed wing virus (DWV) is a common viral pathogen infecting honey bees worldwide that has been shown to induce behavioral changes including precocious foraging and reduced associative learning. We investigated how DWV infection of bees affects the transcriptomic response of the brain. The transcriptomes of individual brains were analyzed using RNA-Seq after experimental infection of newly emerged adult bees with DWV. Two analytical methods were used to identify differentially expressed genes from the ~15,000 genes in the Apis mellifera genome. The 269 genes that had increased expression in DWV infected brains included genes involved in innate immunity such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), Ago2, and Dicer. Single bee brain NMR metabolomics methodology was developed for this work and indicates that proline is strongly elevated in DWV infected brains, consistent with the increased presence of the AMPs abaecin and apidaecin. The 1361 genes with reduced expression levels includes genes involved in cellular communication including G-protein coupled, tyrosine kinase, and ion-channel regulated signaling pathways. The number and function of the downregulated genes suggest that DWV has a major impact on neuron signaling that could explain DWV related behavioral changes.

Journal

Viruses

Volume

12

Issue

2

First Page

287

Department

Biology

Second Department

Chemistry

Open Access

Link to OA full text

DOI

doi.org/10.3390/v13020287

Additional Files
Pizzorno_Viruses_SI.pdf (91 kB)
Supplemental Figures and Data
Pizzorno_Tables_S1_to_S6.xlsx (427 kB)
Supplemental Tables of Genes
Link to Full Text

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