Data from: 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 the
putative pathogen identified as Vavraia culicis was likely to be another
microsporidian Nosema vulgaris. PCR and subsequent Sanger sequencing using
published or our own designed primers, confirmed the identity of
Moellerella sp. (which may be Hafnia alvei), Aspergillus sp., KBV, Moku
virus and Nosema. Secondly, we used an infection study by homogenising
diseased wasp larvae and feeding them to entire nests of larvae in the
laboratory. Three nests transinfected with diseased larvae all died within
19 days. No pathogen that we monitored, however, had a significantly
higher prevalence in diseased than in healthy larvae. RT-qPCR analysis
indicated that pathogen infections were significantly correlated, such as
between KBV and Aspergillus sp. Social wasps clearly suffer from an array
of pathogens, which may lead to the collapse of nests and larval death.