TY - CONF A1 - Prajapati, Harshit Kumar T1 - Bees got a virus? N2 - The poster was presented at the long night of sciences 2023, to spread awareness about the Deformed Wing Virus - a leading cause of honeybee colony losses worldwide. We also describe our research contributions to understanding the evolutionary dynamics of this virus. T2 - Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2023 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 17.06.2023 KW - Evolution KW - Varroa destructor KW - Honeybees KW - Virus PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-61717 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Prajapati, Harshit Kumar T1 - Transmission mediated adaptation of virulence in Deformed Wing Virus N2 - The emergence of several infectious diseases in the last few decades has resulted in elevated honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony losses. Especially, (+) single-stranded RNA viruses like Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) have become prominent due to a novel vector from Asia, the ectoparasitic mite – Varroa destructor. The evolution of DWV may have been significantly affected by the establishment of a new transmission route, as represented by V. destructor. According to virulence-transmission trade-off theory, viruses found in vector-invaded hosts may evolve a level of virulence that maximizes transmission and subsequent spread in the colony. In this study, we tested this prediction by passaging DWV in white-eyed pupae by microinjection over 10 generations, to emulate the vectoring function of V. destructor, while subjecting the virus to 3 different transmission selection regimes: (i) Early: at 4 days, (ii) Optimal: at 6 days, and (iii) Late: at 8 days post-injection. The evolved viral genomes are analyzed by long-read (Oxford Nanopore) sequencing. The reconstructed viral population dynamics are compared with the inter-host transmission and viral load, to identify fixed mutations contributing to the adapted virulence. Using a site-/gene-specific test of natural selection, we explore the phenotypic effects of virulence among the evolved viruses. T2 - International Virus Bioinformatics Meeting 2024 CY - Leuven, Belgium DA - 28.05.2024 KW - Evolution KW - Varroa destructor KW - Honeybees KW - Virus PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61719 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Prajapati, Harshit Kumar T1 - Transmission-mediated adaptation in virulence of a major honeybee pathogen - Deformed Wing Virus N2 - The emergence of several infectious diseases in the last few decades has resulted in elevated honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony losses. Especially, (+) single-stranded RNA viruses like Deformed Wing Virus (DWV) have become prominent due to a novel vector from Asia, the ectoparasitic mite – Varroa destructor. The evolution of DWV may have been significantly affected by the establishment of a new transmission route, as represented by V. destructor. According to virulence-transmission trade-off theory, viruses found in vector-invaded hosts may evolve a level of virulence that maximizes transmission and subsequent spread in the colony. In this study, we tested this prediction by passaging DWV in white-eyed pupae by microinjection over 10 generations, to emulate the vectoring function of V. destructor, while subjecting the virus to 3 different transmission selection regimes: (i) Early: at 4 days, (ii) Optimal: at 6 days, and (iii) Late: at 8 days post-injection. The evolved viral genomes are analyzed by long-read (Oxford Nanopore) sequencing. The reconstructed viral population dynamics are compared with the inter-host transmission and viral load, to identify fixed mutations contributing to the adapted virulence. Using a site-/gene-specific test of natural selection, we explore the phenotypic effects of virulence among the evolved viruses. T2 - European IUSSI 2024 CY - Lausanne, Switzerland DA - 07.07.2024 KW - Evolution KW - Varroa destructor KW - Honeybees KW - Virus PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61720 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -