A metatranscriptomic analysis of diseased social wasps (Vespula vulgaris) for pathogens, with an experimental infection of larvae and nests

Social wasps are a major pest in many countries around the world. Pathogens may influence wasp populations and could provide an option for population management via biological control. We investigated the pathology of nests of apparently healthy common wasps, Vespula vulgaris, with nests apparently suffering disease. First, next-generation sequencing and metatranscriptomic analysis were used to examine pathogen presence. The transcriptome of healthy and diseased V. vulgaris showed 27 known microbial phylotypes. Four of these were observed in diseased larvae alone (Aspergillus fumigatus, Moellerella wisconsensis, Moku virus, and the microsporidian Vavraia culicis). Kashmir Bee Virus (KBV) was found to be present in both healthy and diseased larvae. Moellerella wisconsensis is a human pathogen that was potentially misidentified in our wasps by the MEGAN analysis: it is more likely to be the related bacteria Hafnia alvei that is known to infect social insects. The closest identification to...

社会性黄蜂是全球诸多国家的主要害虫。病原体可对黄蜂种群产生影响，或可成为生物防治途径下种群管理的可选方案。我们针对外观健康的普通黄胡蜂（Vespula vulgaris）巢穴以及疑似染病的巢穴开展了病理学特征调查。首先，我们通过下一代测序（next-generation sequencing）与宏转录组分析（metatranscriptomic analysis）检测病原体的存在情况。健康与染病普通黄胡蜂的转录组中共检出27种已知微生物系统型。其中4种仅在染病幼虫体内被检测到：烟曲霉（Aspergillus fumigatus）、威斯康星莫勒菌（Moellerella wisconsensis）、莫库病毒（Moku virus）以及微孢子虫Vavraia culicis。克什米尔蜜蜂病毒（Kashmir Bee Virus, KBV）在健康与染病幼虫体内均有检出。威斯康星莫勒菌（Moellerella wisconsensis）属于人类病原体，经MEGAN分析后发现其在黄蜂样本中可能存在鉴定偏差：更有可能的是与其亲缘关系相近、且已知可感染社会性昆虫的蜂房哈夫尼菌（Hafnia alvei）。本次鉴定最接近的结果为……