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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Giles Budge
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© 2016 Elsevier Ltd.Varroa mites (Varroa destructor) and the viruses that they transmit are one of the major contributing factors to the global honey bee crisis. Gene products within the nervous system are the targets of all the insecticides currently used to control Varroa but there is a paucity of transcriptomic data available for Varroa neural tissues. A cDNA library from the synganglia ("brains") of adult female Varroa was constructed and 600 ESTs sequenced and analysed revealing several current and potential druggable targets. Contigs coding for the deformed wing virus (DWV) variants V. destructor virus-1 (VDV-1) and the recombinant (VDV-1DVD) were present in the synganglion library. Negative-sense RNA-specific PCR indicated that VDV-1 replicates in the Varroa synganglion and all other tissues tested, but we could not detect DWV replicating in any Varroa tissue. Two neuropeptides were identified in the synganlion EST library: a B-type allatostatin and a member of the crustacean hyperglycaemic hormone (CHH) superfamily. Knockdown of the allatostatin or the CHH-like gene by double-stranded RNA-interference (dsRNAi) resulted in 85% and 55% mortality, respectively, of Varroa. Here, we present the first transcriptomic survey in Varroa and demonstrate that neural genes can be targeted by dsRNAi either for genetic validation of putative targets during drug discovery programmes or as a potential control measure in itself.
Author(s): Campbell EM, Budge GE, Watkins M, Bowman AS
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Year: 2016
Volume: 70
Pages: 116-126
Print publication date: 01/03/2016
Online publication date: 23/12/2015
Acceptance date: 20/12/2015
ISSN (print): 0965-1748
ISSN (electronic): 1879-0240
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2015.12.007
DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2015.12.007
PubMed id: 26721201
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