Genetic variability and phylogeographic relations of Nosema Apis at the apiary level
- DOI
- 10.5922/vestniknat-2026-2-10
- Pages
- 141-153
Abstract
The results of a comprehensive analysis of the genetic diversity of the microsporidian Nosema apis, the causative agent of nosemosis in honey bees (Apis mellifera), are presented using the example of a single apiary located in the Laishevsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan. Identification of the haplotypic composition of the pathogen and assessment of its phylogeographic relationships with Eurasian isolates were carried out based on the polymorphism of the polar tube protein gene PTP3. It was established that all examined bees were infected with N. apis. Sequencing and subsequent cloning of heterozygous samples revealed the presence of two amino acid variants of the PTP3 protein within a single hive. One of them completely coincided with the dominant Eurasian haplotype previously described in parasite populations from Slovenia, Spain, and Turkey. The second variant is unique to the present study and differs from the main variant by a single nonsynonymous substitution (leucine instead of proline at the position presumably corresponding to codon 112 of the protein). A weak positive correlation was identified between high invasion intensity (spore load > 150 thousand spores) and the belonging of bees to hybrid forms involving the Central Russian and Grey Mountain Caucasian breeds (r = 0.25; p < 0.05).