Honey Environmental DNA Can Be Used to Detect and Monitor Honey Bee Pests: Development of Methods Useful to Identify Aethina tumida and Galleria mellonella Infestations.

ABSTRACT: Environmental DNA (eDNA) contained in honey derives from the organisms that directly and indirectly have been involved in the production process of this matrix and that have played a role in the hive ecosystems where the honey has been produced. In this study we set up PCR-based assays to detect the presence of DNA traces left in the honey by two damaging honey bee pests: the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) and the greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella). DNA was extracted from 82 honey samples produced in Italy and amplified using two specific primer pairs that target the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI) of A. tumida and two specific primer pairs that target the same gene in G. mellonella. The limit of detection was tested using sequential diluti

SUBMITTER: Ribani A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9147136 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature