Occurrence of Sacbrood Virus in Korean Apiaries from Apis cerana (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Abstract

We previously determined the partial nucleotide sequence of SBV, which infects and causes colony collapses in Asiatic honey bee (Apis cerana). In the present study, the detection of TSBV virus adult female and larval honey bees (A. cerana) was investigated in different colonies. Using specific RTPCR protocols for the detection of SBV followed by sequencing, we could demonstrate that honeybees were indeed infected with SBV. The amplification products were sequenced and analyzed. Nucleotide and amino acid sequenceswere aligned to the partial sequence deposited in the GenBank database and revealed homologies of 96.2% (AF469603), 91.1% (AY669850), and 93.6% (HM-237361). The partial SBV gene encoding a polyprotein consisted of 236bp of 78 amino acid residues. Therefore, this is the first description of the presence of SBV in (A. cerana) using RT-PCR.