Articles of Significant Interest Selected from This Issue by the Editors

摘要

It was previously suggested that an interspecies barrier to Sacbrood virus (SBV) infection existed between Eastern honeybees ( Apis cerana ) and European honeybees ( Apis mellifera ). Nevertheless, by a larger-scale investigation of SBV infection in field colonies and artificial infection experiments, Gong and colleagues (p. 22562262) demonstrated that A. cerana SBV (AcSBV) is, in fact, able to infect A. mellifera colonies. Thus, despite low prevalence and pathogenicity in the new host, the ability of AcSBV to infect European honeybees and the ability of the European honeybee to serve as a reservoir for AcSBV under natural conditions pose a new threat to pollinator health.To examine immune responses associated with fungal exposure, mice are often exposed to a single fungal species grown on an agar medium. A report by Madsen et al. (p. 24792493) describes an inhalation exposure system for examination of the responses in mice to exposure to mixed fungal species. Aerosols containing 10~(7) CFU of fungi/m~(3) air were generated repeatedly from fungus-infested gypsum boards. Fungi were present in the following forms (in order of descending prevalence): single spores, chains, and clusters of spores and fragments. Aerosols contained Aspergillus nidulans , A.niger , A.ustus , A.versicolor , Chaetomium globosum , Cladosporium herbarum , seven Penicillium species, Stachybotrys chartarum , and Wallemia sebi . These organisms were all among the most abundant airborne fungal species in 28 Danish homes.