Determining if Nosema ceranae and a Previously Unreported Virus are Causal Agents of CCD

摘要: Objectives:The primary objective is to greatly strengthen the knowledge of two pathogens that we suspect are associated with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). We intend to pursue this objective by analyzing bee colonies from 35 beekeeping operations, which we sampled in three areas of California durring a recent wave of CCD,(fall and winter of 2010). With these samples, we aim to prove or disprove our hypothesis. This being that the interaction of two pathogens, specifically Nosema ceranae and a heretofore unreported and unsequenced virus, is the presumed cause of CCD.From a pragmatic perspective, we have used ABC funding to:(1) investigate the extent and severity of CCD in California just before the 2010 almond pollination,(2) obtain a much broader sample set of bees, including more beekeeping operations with ‘good’bees, so that we can truly assess whether healthier bees do or do not have the two pathogens that we have previously found in all CCD colonies,(3) collect fresh material (infected bee tissues) for inoculations to test following Koch’s Postulates,(4) provide this fresh material to our virologists in Texas and Mexico, who will try to extract, isolate, and purify the unsequenced virus, and (5) use this material and information in an attempt to produce a PCR primer for fast and inexpensive screening and identification of the virus in bee samples.