Five-year cohort study of Nosema spp. in Germany: does climate shape virulence and assertiveness of Nosema ceranae?

ABSTRACT: Nosema ceranae and Nosema apis are two fungal pathogens belonging to the phylum Microsporidia and infecting the European honeybee, Apis mellifera. Recent studies have suggested that N. ceranae is more virulent than N. apis both at the individual insect level and at the colony level. Severe colony losses could be attributed to N. ceranae infections, and an unusual form of nosemosis is caused by this pathogen. In the present study, data from a 5-year cohort study of the prevalence of Nosema spp. in Germany, involving about 220 honeybee colonies and a total of 1,997 samples collected from these colonies each spring and autumn and analyzed via species-specific PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), are described. Statistical analysis of the data revealed no relation between colon

SUBMITTER: Gisder S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2863439 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature