Lack of evidence for an association between Iridovirus and colony collapse disorder

Rafal Tokarz, Cadhla Firth, Craig Street, Diana L. Cox-Foster, W. Ian Lipkin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Colony collapse disorder (CCD) is characterized by the unexplained losses of large numbers of adult worker bees (Apis mellifera) from apparently healthy colonies. Although infections, toxins, and other stressors have been associated with the onset of CCD, the pathogenesis of this disorder remains obscure. Recently, a proteomics study implicated a double-stranded DNA virus, invertebrate iridescent virus (Family Iridoviridae) along with a microsporidium (Nosema sp.) as the cause of CCD. We tested the validity of this relationship using two independent methods: (i) we surveyed healthy and CCD colonies from the United States and Israel for the presence of members of the Iridovirus genus and (ii) we reanalyzed metagenomics data previously generated from RNA pools of CCD colonies for the presence of Iridovirus-like sequences. Neither analysis revealed any evidence to suggest the presence of an Iridovirus in healthy or CCD colonies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere21844
JournalPloS one
Volume6
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Lack of evidence for an association between Iridovirus and colony collapse disorder'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this