Ten Years of Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) in Hawaiian Honey Bees (<i>Apis mellifera</i>), the Dominant DWV-A Variant Is Potentially Being Replaced by Variants with a DWV-B Coding Sequence

• Main Authors: Isobel Grindrod, Jessica L. Kevill, Ethel M. Villalobos, Declan C. Schroeder, Stephen John Martin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Viruses
• Subjects: honey bee; deformed wing virus; <i>Varroa</i>
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/6/969
• ISSN: 1999-4915

The combination of Deformed wing virus (DWV) and <i>Varroa</i> <i>destructor</i> is arguably one of the greatest threats currently facing western honey bees, <i>Apis mellifera</i>. <i>Varroa’</i>s association with DWV has decreased viral diversity and increased loads of DWV within honey bee populations. Nowhere has this been better studied than in Hawaii, where the arrival of <i>Varroa</i> progressively led to the dominance of the single master variant (DWV-A) on both mite-infested Hawaiian Islands of Oahu and Big Island. Now, exactly 10 years following the original study, we find that the DWV population has changed once again, with variants containing the <i>RdRp</i> coding sequence pertaining to the master variant B beginning to co-dominate alongside variants with the DWV-A <i>RdRp</i> sequence on the mite-infested islands of Oahu and Big Island. In speculation, based on other studies, it appears this could represent a stage in the journey towards the complete dominance of DWV-B, a variant that appears better adapted to be transmitted within honey bee colonies.