Diversity and selective forces in the key honey bee pathogen, Deformed wing virus. Apis mellifera strain:not applicable | breed:US domestic hybrid | cultivar:not applicable

Deformed wing virus (DWV) is an important pathogen of honey bees tied to widespread colony losses. The introduction of the honey bee parasitic mite, Varroa destructor, has impacted both the virulence and the diversity of DWV. Here we use high-throughput RNA sequencing to survey the genetic structure and, for the first time, test the selective forces faced by virulent DWV populations from the mainland United States. To do this, we produced a series of infectious cDNA clones corresponding to major full-length RNA genome variants (GenBank Accession numbers - MG831200 - MG831204) present in a typical virulent Varroa-associated US DWV population. Injections of these clones allowed us to assess infectivity, genetic stability of the clone-derived DWV variants, and interaction between the clones in the infected honey bees.

变形翼病毒（Deformed Wing Virus，DWV）是一类与蜂群大规模消亡紧密关联的重要蜜蜂病原体。西方蜜蜂寄生螨瓦螨（Varroa destructor）的传入，同时影响了DWV的毒力水平与遗传多样性。本研究采用高通量RNA测序技术，对美国本土的高毒力DWV种群的遗传结构展开系统调查，并首次针对该种群所承受的选择压力开展验证实验。为此，我们针对典型的瓦螨关联型美国高毒力DWV种群中存在的主要全长RNA基因组变异体，构建了一系列感染性cDNA克隆（GenBank登录号：MG831200至MG831204）。通过向受测蜜蜂体内注射这些克隆产物，我们得以评估克隆衍生的DWV变异体的感染性、遗传稳定性，以及各克隆在受感染蜜蜂体内的相互作用。