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. 2019 Aug 6;9(1):11355.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47801-5.

Population genetics of ectoparasitic mites suggest arms race with honeybee hosts

Alexis L Beaurepaire  1   2 , Arrigo Moro  3 , Fanny Mondet  4 , Yves Le Conte  4 , Peter Neumann  3   5 , Barbara Locke  6
Affiliations

Population genetics of ectoparasitic mites suggest arms race with honeybee hosts

Alexis L Beaurepaire et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, is the most severe biotic threat to honeybees (Apis mellifera) globally, usually causing colony death within a few years without treatments. While it is known that a few A. mellifera populations survive mite infestations by means of natural selection, the possible role of mite adaptations remains unclear. To investigate potential changes in mite populations in response to host adaptations, the genetic structure of V. destructor in the mite-resistant A. mellifera population on Gotland, Sweden, was studied. Spatio-temporal genetic changes were assessed by comparing mites collected in these colonies, as well as from neighboring mite-susceptible colonies, in historic (2009) and current (2017/2018) samples. The results show significant changes in the genetic structure of the mite populations during the time frame of this study. These changes were more pronounced in the V. destructor population infesting the mite-resistant honeybee colonies than in the mite-susceptible colonies. These results suggest that V. destructor populations are reciprocating, in a coevolutionary arms race, to the selection pressure induced by their honeybee host. Our data reveal exciting new insights into host-parasite interactions between A. mellifera and its major parasite.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Genetic differentiation across populations of Varroa destructor. Schematic maps showing the results of the pairwise genetic differentiation among groups. Significant results are represented by full lines, non-significant by dashed lines, the size of the lines is proportional to the values of the estimates, also indicated next to the relevant lines (on top: FST values, and Dest below and between parentheses).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of the most prevalent MLGs across groups. Prevalence of the different V. destructor Multi-Locus Genotypes (MLGs) across the different groups. The coloured bars represent the five most prevalent MLGs and the white bars represent the rest of the MLGs. The letters represent the populations (S: Susceptible, R: resistant, M: mainland) and dates (H: historic and C: current).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Genetic Structure of the Gotland mite populations. The blue and yellow colours indicate the two genetic clusters, the X-axis represents individuals and the Y-axis represents the probability to belong to the two different clusters (ΔK2 = 269.46).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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