Learning performance and GABAergic pathway link to deformed wing virus in the mushroom bodies of naturally infected honey bees.

ABSTRACT: Viral infections can be detrimental to the foraging ability of the western honey bee, Apis mellifera. The deformed wing virus (DWV) is the most common honey bee virus and has been proposed as a possible cause of learning and memory impairment. However, evidence for this phenomenon so far has come from artificially infected bees, while less is known about the implications of natural infections with the virus. Using the proboscis extension reflex (PER), we uncovered no significant association between a simple associative learning task and natural DWV load. However, when assessed through a reversal associative learning assay, bees with higher DWV load performed better in the reversal learning phase. DWV is able to replicate in the honey bee mushroom bodies, where the GABAergic signalling path

SUBMITTER: Szymanski S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11418184 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature