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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Nosema ceranae is a highly prevalent pathogen of Apis mellifera, which is distributed
worldwide. However, there may still exist geographically isolated areas that remain
free of this pathogen. While Nosema spp. spores have been identified in samples from
the Azores archipelago since early 2000’s, whether those spores matched N. apis or N.
ceranae was unknown until this study. To address this question, we used molecular tools
(multiplex PCR and real-time qPCR) to scrutinize 474 colonies sampled from eight islands
in 2014/2015 and 91 from four islands in 2020. The findings revealed that N. ceranae was not
only present but also the dominant species in the Azores. In 2014/2015, N. apis was rare and
N. ceranae prevalence varied between 2.7% in São Jorge and 50.7% in Pico. In 2020, N. ceranae
prevalence increased significantly (p < 0.001) in Terceira and São Jorge, which also showed
higher infection levels. The spatio-temporal patterns suggest that N. ceranae colonised
the archipelago recently, and it rapidly spread across other islands, where at least two
independent introductions might have occurred. Flores and Santa Maria have escaped the
N. ceranae invasion, and it is remarkable that Santa Maria is also free of Varroa destructor,
which makes it one of the last places in Europe where the honey bee remains naive to these
two major biotic stressors.
Description
Keywords
Nosema ceranae Prevalence Azorean honey bees
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Lopes, Ana Rita; Martín-Hernández, Raquel; Higes, Mariano; Henriques, Dora; Pinto, M. Alice (2022). Spatio-temporal patterns of Nosema cerenae in the Azores archipelago. In Eurbee 9: 9th European Conference of Apidology. Belgrade
Publisher
Estonian University of Life Science