Antiviral therapies for honeybees

蜜蜂是最重要的受控授粉昆虫，它为全球农业贡献了价值数十亿美元的“服务”，也生产蜂蜜。健康的蜂群对于授粉和蜂蜜生产是必不可少的。蜜蜂的健康受到体外寄生螨Varroa以蜜蜂血淋巴(血液)为食时传播的病毒的威胁。最重要的病毒是变形翼病毒(DWV)。在没有瓦罗亚的情况下，病毒的存在水平较低，遗传多样性，对群体健康的影响最小。当由Varroa传播时，单一的毒力变体(我们称为DWVv)会复制到10,000倍以上的水平，给幼蜂造成严重的发育性疾病，并缩短成年蜜蜂的寿命，因此占整个冬季群体损失的20%以上。我们已经确定了DWVv，并建议查看其全球分布情况，并测试旨在抑制病毒复制的治疗方法。这些研究对改善蜜蜂健康也至关重要。

Honeybees are the most important managed pollinating insects, contributing 'services' worth billions of dollars to global agriculture, as well as producing honey. Healthy colonies are essential for pollination and honey production. Honeybee health is threatened by viruses transmitted by the ectoparasitic mite Varroa when it feeds on bee haemolymph (blood). The most important virus is deformed wing virus (DWV). In the absence of Varroa the virus is present at low levels, is genetically diverse and causes minimal impact on colony health. When transmitted by Varroa, a single virulent variant (which we term DWVv) replicates to 10,000 times higher levels, causing serious developmental disease to young bees and reducing the lifespan of adults, so accounting for the 20%+ colony losses over winter. We have identified DWVv and propose to look at its global distribution and test therapies designed to inhibit virus replication. These studies are critical too improve honeybee health.