Nationwide Screening for Arthropod, Fungal, and Bacterial Honey Bee Pathogens: Utilizing Environmental DNA from Honey samples in Australia.

The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) significantly contributes to Australian agriculture, especially in honey production and pollination of key crops. However, managed bee populations are declining due to pathogens, agrochemicals, poor forage, climate change, and habitat loss. Major threats include bacteria, fungi, mites, and pests. With the increasing demand for pollination and the movement of bee colonies, monitoring these threats is essential. It has been demonstrated that honey constitutes an easily accessible source of environmental DNA. Environmental DNA in honey comes from all organisms that either directly or indirectly aid in its production and those within the hive environments. In this study, we extracted eDNA from 135 honey samples and tested for the presence of DNA for seven key honey bee pathogens, pests, and parasites - Paenibacillus larvae, Melissococcus plutonius (bacterial pathogens), Nosema apis, Nosema ceranae (microsporidian fungi), Ascosphaera apis (fungal pathogen), Aethina tumida, and Galleria mellonella (arthropod pests) by using conventional singleplex and multiplex PCR assays. N. ceranae emerged as the most prevalent pathogen, present in 57% of the samples. This was followed by A. tumida (40%), G. mellonella (37%), P. larvae (21%), N. apis (19%), and M. plutonius (18%). A. apis was detected in a smaller proportion of the samples, with a prevalence of 5%. Additionally, 19% of the samples tested negative for all pathogens and pests analysed. The data outlines essential information about the prevalence of significant arthropod, fungal, and bacterial pathogens and pests affecting honey bees in Australia, which is crucial for protecting the nation's beekeeping industry.

欧洲蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）对澳大利亚农业具有重要贡献，尤其在蜂蜜生产和关键作物授粉方面。然而，由于病原体（pathogens）、农用化学品（agrochemicals）、饲料不足、气候变化及栖息地丧失等因素，人工饲养的蜜蜂种群数量正不断下降。主要威胁包括细菌（bacteria）、真菌（fungi）、螨虫（mites）及害虫（pests）。随着授粉需求的增加和蜂群的迁移，监测这些威胁至关重要。研究表明，蜂蜜是环境DNA（environmental DNA）的便捷来源，蜂蜜中的环境DNA来源于所有直接或间接参与其生产的生物以及蜂巢环境中的生物。本研究中，我们从135份蜂蜜样本中提取了eDNA，并通过常规单重和多重PCR检测（conventional singleplex and multiplex PCR assays），对七种影响蜜蜂的关键病原体、害虫及寄生虫的DNA存在情况进行了检测，包括幼虫芽孢杆菌（Paenibacillus larvae）、蜜蜂球菌（Melissococcus plutonius）（细菌病原体）、蜜蜂微孢子虫（Nosema apis）、东方蜜蜂微孢子虫（Nosema ceranae）（微孢子虫真菌）、蜜蜂球囊菌（Ascosphaera apis）（真菌病原体）、蜂巢小甲虫（Aethina tumida）及大蜡螟（Galleria mellonella）（节肢动物害虫）。结果显示，东方蜜蜂微孢子虫的检出率最高，在57%的样本中被检出；其次是蜂巢小甲虫（40%）、大蜡螟（37%）、幼虫芽孢杆菌（21%）、蜜蜂微孢子虫（19%）及蜜蜂球菌（18%）；蜜蜂球囊菌的检出率较低，仅为5%。此外，19%的样本未检出所有受分析的病原体和害虫。该数据集提供了澳大利亚蜜蜂所面临的主要节肢动物、真菌及细菌病原体和害虫的检出率信息，这对保护该国养蜂业至关重要。