Distribution and variability of deformed wing virus of honeybees (Apis mellifera) in the Middle East and North Africa |
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| Authors: | Nizar Jamal Haddad Adjlane Noureddine Banan Al‐Shagour Wahida Loucif‐Ayad Mogbel A A El‐Niweiri Eman Anaswah Wafaa Abu Hammour Dany El‐Obeid Albaba Imad Mohamed A Shebl Abdulhusien Sehen Almaleky Abdullah Nasher Nagara Walid Mohamed Fouad Bergigui Orlando Yañez Joachim R de Miranda |
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| Institution: | 1. Bee Research Department, National Center for Agriculture Research and Extension, Baq'a, Jordan;2. Department of Biology, M'hamed Bougara University of Boumerdes, ENS Kouba, Algeries;3. Laboratory of Applied Animal Biology, University Badji‐Mokhtar, Annaba, Algeria;4. Department of Bee Research, Environment, Natural Resources and Desertification Research Institute, National Centre for Research, Khartoum, Sudan;5. Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon;6. West Bank, State of Palestine, Halhul‐Hebron District, Palestine;7. Department of Plant Protection, Suez Canal 8. University, Ismailia, Egypt;9. Extension Department, Qadysia Governate Agricultural Directorate, Iraq;10. Department of Plant Protection, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen;11. National Federation of Tunisian beekeepers, Tunis, Tunisia;12. Ruchers El Bakri, Hay Assalam‐Sidi Slimane, Rabat, Morocco;13. Institute of Bee Health, Vetsuisse Faculty, 14. University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;15. Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden |
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| 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. |
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| Keywords: | Apis mellifera deformed wing virus Middle East North Africa prevalence variability |
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