Deformed wing virus: The main suspect in unexplained honeybee deaths worldwide

摘要

The unexplained collapse of honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies across the world continues to fascinate both the scientific and mainstream media alike. This is mainly due to the worldwide importance of honeybees in ecological and commercial sectors. We recently reported how the ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, altered the viral landscape in the Hawaiian archipelago by decreasing the viral genetic diversity while increasing the prevalence of a particular virus species, deformed wing virus (DWV). Here we explain why DWV is now the most likely candidate responsible for the majority of the colony losses that have occurred across the world during the past 50 years.