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Dryad

Honey bee virus causes context-dependent changes in host social behavior

Cite this dataset

Dolezal, Adam et al. (2020). Honey bee virus causes context-dependent changes in host social behavior [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m63xsj3z8

Abstract

Anthropogenic changes create evolutionarily novel environments that present opportunities for emerging diseases, potentially changing the balance between host and pathogen. Honey bees provide essential pollination services, but intensification and globalization of honey bee management has coincided with increased pathogen pressure, primarily due to a parasitic mite/virus complex. Here, we investigated how honey bee individual and social phenotypes are altered by a virus of concern, Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV). Using automated and manual behavioral monitoring of IAPV-inoculated individuals, we find evidence for pathogen manipulation of worker behavior by IAPV, and reveal that this effect depends on social context; i.e., within vs between colony interactions. Experimental inoculation reduced social contacts between honey bee colony members, suggesting an adaptive host social immune response to diminish transmission. Parallel analyses with dsRNA-immunostimulated bees revealed these behaviors are part of a generalized social immune defensive response. Conversely, inoculated bees presented to groups of bees from other colonies experienced reduced aggression compared dsRNA-immunostimulated bees, facilitating entry into susceptible colonies. This reduction was associated with a shift in cuticular hydrocarbons, the chemical signatures used by bees to discriminate colony members from intruders. These responses were specific to IAPV infection, suggestive of pathogen manipulation of the host. Emerging bee pathogens may thus shape host phenotypes to increase transmission, a strategy especially well-suited to the unnaturally high colony densities of modern apiculture. These findings demonstrate how anthropogenic changes could affect arms races between human-managed hosts and their pathogens to potentially impact global food security.

Funding

United States Department of Agriculture, Award: 2019-67013-29300

National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Award: R01GM117467

National Academies Keck Futures Initiative grant , Award: NAKFI CB4

North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

Christopher Family Foundation

National Academies Keck Futures Initiative grant, Award: NAKFI CB4

North American Pollinator Protection Campaign

Christopher Family Foundation