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Research article2017Peer reviewedOpen access

Distribution and variability of deformed wing virus of honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) in the Middle East and North Africa

Haddad, Nizar Jamal; Noureddine, Adjlane; Al-Shagour, Banan; Loucif-Ayad, Wahida; El-Niweiri, Mogbel A. A.; Anaswah, Eman; Abu Hammour, Wafaa; El-Obeid, Dany; Imad, Albaba; Shebl, Mohamed A.; Almaleky, Abdulhusien Sehen; Nasher, Abdullah; Walid, Nagara; Bergigui, Mohamed Fouad; Yanez, Orlando; de Miranda, Joachim R.

Abstract

Three hundred and eleven honeybee samples from 12 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) (Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Palestine, and Sudan) were analyzed for the presence of deformed wing virus (DWV). The prevalence of DWV throughout the MENA region was pervasive, but variable. The highest prevalence was found in Lebanon and Syria, with prevalence dropping in Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt before increasing slightly moving westwards to Algeria and Morocco Phylogenetic analysis of a 194 nucleotide section of the DWV Lp gene did not identify any significant phylogenetic resolution among the samples, although the sequences did show consistent regional clustering, including an interesting geographic gradient from Morocco through North Africa to Jordan and Syria. The sequences revealed several clear variability hotspots in the deduced amino acid sequence, which furthermore showed some patterns of regional identity. Furthermore, the sequence variants from the Middle East and North Africa appear more numerous and diverse than those from Europe.

Keywords

Apis mellifera; deformed wing virus; Middle East; North Africa; prevalence; variability

Published in

Insect Science
2017, Volume: 24, number: 1, pages: 103-113

      Associated SLU-program

      Future Animal Health and Welfare (until Jan 2017)

      UKÄ Subject classification

      Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
      Evolutionary Biology
      Pathobiology

      Publication identifier

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.12277

      Permanent link to this page (URI)

      https://res.slu.se/id/publ/77571