Back
Full-text
Journal article

Putative determinants of virulence in Melissococcus plutonius, the bacterial agent causing European foulbrood in honey bees.

  • Grossar D Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, UNIL-Sorge, University of Lausanne , Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Kilchenmann V Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre , Bern, Switzerland.
  • Forsgren E Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SLU , Uppsala, Sweden.
  • Charrière JD Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre , Bern, Switzerland.
  • Gauthier L Agroscope, Swiss Bee Research Centre , Bern, Switzerland.
  • Chapuisat M Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, UNIL-Sorge, University of Lausanne , Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • Dietemann V Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, UNIL-Sorge, University of Lausanne , Lausanne, Switzerland.
Show more…
  • 2020-05-28
Published in:
  • Virulence. - 2020
Apis mellifera
Melissococcus plutonius
EFB
European foulbrood
honey bee
melissotoxin A
virulence
English is a bacterial pathogen that causes epidemic outbreaks of European foulbrood (EFB) in honey bee populations. The pathogenicity of a bacterium depends on its virulence, and understanding the mechanisms influencing virulence may allow for improved disease control and containment. Using a standardized in vitro assay, we demonstrate that virulence varies greatly among sixteen M. plutonius isolates from five European countries. Additionally, we explore the causes of this variation. In this study, virulence was independent of the multilocus sequence type of the tested pathogen, and was not affected by experimental co-infection with Paenibacillus alvei, a bacterium often associated with EFB outbreaks. Virulence in vitro was correlated with the growth dynamics of M. plutonius isolates in artificial medium, and with the presence of a plasmid carrying a gene coding for the putative toxin melissotoxin A. Our results suggest that some M. plutonius strains showed an increased virulence due to the acquisition of a toxin-carrying mobile genetic element. We discuss whether strains with increased virulence play a role in recent EFB outbreaks.
Language
  • English
Open access status
gold
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/117375
Statistics
Document views: 62 File downloads:
  • Full-text: 0