Social epidemiology: using genomics to investigate a key fungal disease in bumblebees

疾病在人类、家养动植物和野生动物中的传播是对健康和生态系统服务的主要威胁。然而，疾病是如何在人类和蜜蜂等复杂的社会有机体中传播的——它们的流行病学——人们知之甚少。确定疾病如何在社会网络中传播是理解和控制疾病的关键。大黄蜂和它们的寄生虫提供了一个模型系统，在其中发展对这种流行病学的理解。此外，大黄蜂是全球范围内正在减少的主要传粉媒介，而这些减少的原因之一是寄生虫及其引起的疾病。因此，了解疾病在大黄蜂中的传播也具有重要的应用保护价值。本项目将利用大黄蜂Bombus terrestris及其寄生虫vairrimorpha bombi对大黄蜂种群有重大影响，以了解景观特征如何影响寄生虫流行病学。重要的是，它将结合经验实验、基因组学和建模工作来了解寄生虫的动态。实证研究的范围将从受控的实验室实验，通过制定寄生虫DNA的提取和测序方案，到对寄生虫野外种群动态的观察。基因组学工作将包括重新测序和炸弹变异体基因组的组装，以及从不同地区捕获的样本进行比较生物信息学。该项目的结果将为社会网络如何影响疾病流行提供详细的见解，特别是这些疾病如何在大黄蜂中发生。除了其科学影响外，它还将为英国乃至全球传粉媒介的政策和管理提供依据。

Disease spread - in humans, domesticated animals and plants, and wildlife - is a major threat to health and ecosystem services. However, how diseases spread - their epidemiology - in complex social organisms, like humans and bees, is poorly understood. Determining how diseases spread in social networks is key to understanding and controlling them. Bumblebees and their parasites provide a model system in which to develop an understanding of such epidemiology. In addition, bumblebees are key pollinators that are undergoing decline across the globe, and one reason for these declines is parasites and the diseases they cause. Consequently, understanding disease spread in bumblebees also has significant applied conservation value.This project will use the bumblebee Bombus terrestris and its parasite Vairimorpha bombi which has a significant impact on bumblebee colonies, to ask how landscape features affect parasite epidemiology. Importantly, it will combine both empirical experiments, genomics, and modelling work to understand parasite dynamics. Empirical research will range from controlled laboratory experiments, through developing protocols for extraction and sequencing of parasite DNA, to observations in wild field populations of parasite dynamics. Genomics work will involve de novo sequencing and assembly of the Vairimorpha bombi genome and comparative bioinformatics from samples caught across different landscapes.The results of the project will provide a detailed insight into how social networks impact disease epidemics, and specifically how these occur in bumblebees. In addition to its scientific impact, it will feed into policy and management of pollinators in the UK, and globally.