The trypanosome Lotmaria passim prevails in honey bees of different ages and stages of development
2020; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 61; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/00218839.2020.1828239
ISSN2078-6913
AutoresNolberto Arismendi, María Paz Castro, Marisol Vargas, Camila Zapata, Gustavo Riveros,
Tópico(s)Plant and animal studies
ResumoThe gut parasite Lotmaria passim has recently been identified in Apis mellifera and appears to be the predominant trypanosome in honey bees worldwide, but there is little information about L. passim in honey bees of different ages and stages of development. We evaluated the prevalence and load of L. passim in eggs, young and old larvae, dark pupae, newly emerged, nurse and forager bees from colonies that were L. passim-positive. The use of real-time PCR enabled us to detect L. passim, ranging from 21 to 100% in honey bees of almost all stages and ages, with loads ranging from 1.91 x 101 to 7.39 x 105 cells equivalent per bee. This is the first study that reports L. passim in honey bees of different ages and stages of development. We also found an absence of L. passim in eggs, which discards a possible transovarial transmission of this pathogen, although further validations are required. Our findings provide new perspectives for studies on the epidemiology of L. passim in honey bees and other insect pollinators.
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