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Genetic variability and pyrethroid susceptibility of the parasitic honey bee mite Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in Iran

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Abstract

The ectoparasitic honey bee mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman (Acari: Varroidae) is one of the major concerns for worldwide beekeeping. The use of synthetic pyrethroids for controlling the mite was among the most popular treatments until resistance evolved in the mid 1990’s. In Iran, beekeepers are dealing with the parasite and they also used pyrethroids for controlling the mite for a long time. After the evolution of resistance to pyrethroids, they based mite control mostly on treatments with amitraz, organic acids and several management practices. Here we conducted a comprehensive characterization of V. destructor populations parasitizing Apis mellifera in Iran. We determined the genetic variability of mites collected from 28 localities distributed throughout the country. The haplotype of V. destructor was determined by PCR-RFLP, analyzing a fragment of the mitochondrial cox1 gene. It was found that only the Korean haplotype was present in samples from all localities. DNA fragments from cox1, atp6, cox3 and cytb mitochondrial genes were sequenced and the results showed that all samples were identical to the K1-1 or the K1-2 V. destructor haplotypes. Moreover, as it has been reported that resistance to pyrethroids in V. destructor is associated with mutations at position 925 of the voltage-gated sodium channel, a TaqMan®-based allelic discrimination assay was conducted to genotype the mites collected. The results showed that all the mites tested were homozygous for the wild-type allele and, therefore, susceptible to treatment with pyrethroids.

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Acknowledgements

Joel González-Cabrera was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Ramón y Cajal Program (RYC-2013-13834). The work at the Universitat de València was funded by a Grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CGL2015-65025-R, MINECO/FEDER, UE) and by Bayer Animal Health GmbH, Leverkusen, Germany. This research was partly supported by a Grant (No. 7110018/6/24) from the University of Tehran. This research was also supported by the Department of Plant Protection, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. The authors express their gratitude to Dr. Alexis Beaurepaire (France) for the valuable suggestion and for critically reading the map sampling. We are also grateful to Dr. Jamasb Nozari (University of Tehran, Iran) for his assistance in selecting bee colonies in Iran. Finally, we thank the local beekeepers for the provision of bees and mites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    Mahsa Farjamfar & Alireza Saboori

  2. ERI BIOTECMED, Department of Genetics, Universitat de València, Dr. Moliner 50, 46100, Burjassot, Spain

    Mahsa Farjamfar, Joel González-Cabrera & Carmen Sara Hernández Rodríguez

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  1. Mahsa Farjamfar
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  2. Alireza Saboori
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  3. Joel González-Cabrera
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  4. Carmen Sara Hernández Rodríguez
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Correspondence to Joel González-Cabrera or Carmen Sara Hernández Rodríguez.

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Farjamfar, M., Saboori, A., González-Cabrera, J. et al. Genetic variability and pyrethroid susceptibility of the parasitic honey bee mite Varroa destructor (Acari: Varroidae) in Iran. Exp Appl Acarol 76, 139–148 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-018-0296-1

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