Orlando YañezUniversität Bern | UniBe · Vetsuisse Faculty
Orlando Yañez
PhD
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68
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Introduction
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April 2013 - October 2015
April 2007 - July 2010
Publications
Publications (68)
Invasive species require adequate reliable detection methods to mitigate their further spread and impact. However, the reliability of molecular detection methods is often hampered by both false positives (Error type I) and false negatives (Error type II). At present, the reliability of the four published molecular detection methods for small hive b...
Emerging infectious diseases pose a threat to pollinators. Virus transmission among pollinators via flowers may be reinforced by anthropogenic land-use change and concomitant alteration of plant–pollinator interactions. Here, we examine how species’ traits and roles in flower-visitation networks and landscape-scale factors drive key honeybee viruse...
Ectoparasitic mites Tropilaelaps spp. (Mesostigmata: Laelapidae) can be devastating pests of western honey bee, Apis mellifera L., colonies, but have so far occurred only in Asia. Here, we report for the first time on established populations in Europe. In 2021, high losses of honey bee colonies occurred in the Krasnodar region, Western Russia (53%)...
Two beetle parasites of social bees are known to cause colony collapse: small hive beetles,
Aethina tumida, in honey bees and Haptoncus luteolus in stingless bees. Here, we report for
the first time parasitic beetles, Procoryphaeus violaceus, causing colony collapse in stingless
bees, Teteragonula pagdeni.
Invasive vectors can induce dramatic changes in disease epidemiology. While viral emergence following geographical range expansion of a vector is well known, the influence a vector can have at the level of the host's pathobiome is less well understood. Taking advantage of the formerly heterogeneous spatial distribution of the ectoparasitic mite Var...
Western honeybee populations, Apis mellifera, in Europe have been known to survive infestations of the ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor, by means of natural selection. Proposed mechanisms in literature have been focused on the management of this parasite, however literature remains scare on the differences in viral ecology between colonies tha...
Policies and management practices for managed bees and other pollinators are increasingly reliant on the availability of high quality data in order to inform them. This in turn requires the widespread adoption of state-of-the-art standardised methods and approaches so that new data and knowledge are both robust and trustworthy. The PoshBee project...
Virus host shifts from managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, are thought to contribute to the decline of wild pollinators. However, data on the impact of such viruses on wild pollinators remain scarce, and how landscape structure may affect virus transmission is poorly understood. We experimentally deployed bumble bee colonies in an agricultural land...
Virus spillover from managed to unmanaged bees and vice versa may be one mechanism driving colony losses of the former and declines of the latter. There is clear evidence that the ubiquitous Deformed wing virus (DWV) is a major driver of honey bee (Apis mellifera) colony mortality. Although DWV has been detected in the solitary bee Osmia bicornis,...
Insect wing deformities can be caused by various factors, including the Deformed wing virus (DWV). Symptomatic and asymptomatic specimens of the introduced solitary wild bees Megachile sculpturalis and Megachile disjunctiformis collected at eleven Central European locations were screened for DWV infections. Even though virus spillover is common, an...
Interspecies transmission of RNA viruses is a major concern for human and animal health. However, host-range, transmission routes and especially the possible impact of these viruses on alternative hosts are often poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of the labyrinth spider, Agelena labyrinthica, as a potential alternative host of virus...
Multiple mating by both sexes is common among sexually reproducing animals. Small hive beetles (SHB), Aethina tumida, are parasites of bee nests endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and have become a widespread invasive species. Despite the considerable economic damages they can cause, their basic biology remains poorly understood. Here we show that male...
There is clear evidence for wild insect declines globally. Habitat loss, climate change, pests, pathogens and environmental pollution have all been shown to cause detrimental effects on insects. However, interactive effects between these stressors may be the key to understanding reported declines. Here, we review the literature on pesticide and pat...
Viruses are omnipresent, yet the knowledge on drivers of viral prevalence in wild host populations is often limited. Biotic factors, such as sympatric managed host species, as well as abiotic factors, such as climatic variables, are likely to impact viral prevalence. Managed and wild bees, which harbor several multi-host viruses with a mostly fecal...
Pesticides and pathogens are known drivers of declines in global entomofauna. However, interactions between pesticides and viruses, which could range from antagonistic, over additive to synergistic, are poorly understood in ants. Here, we show that in ants the impact of single and combined pesticide and virus stressors can vary across castes and at...
A reduction in floral resource abundance and diversity is generally observed in agro-ecosystems, along with widespread exposure to pesticides. Therefore, a better understanding on how the availability and quality of pollen diets can modulate honeybee sensitivity to pesticides is required. For that purpose, we evaluated the toxicity of acute exposur...
PoshBee is a 5-year funded project (2018-2023) that aims to support healthy bee populations, sustainable beekeeping, and consequently pollination for crops and wildflowers across Europe. To do this we take a range of approaches, from the laboratory to the field, from molecules to ecosystems, and from fundamental science to risk assessment. This doc...
This protocol was developed for the COST-Action “Super-B”, whose purpose was to coordinate research,
outreach and policy towards sustainable pollination1-3. The protocol addresses the detection of parasites
and pathogens across bee species, as one of several possible drivers of bee decline4,5. It consists of four
major components:
1. A sample colle...
A dynamic continuum exists from free-living environmental microbes to strict host-associated symbionts that are vertically inherited. However, knowledge of the forces that drive transitions in symbiotic lifestyle and transmission mode is lacking. Arsenophonus is a diverse clade of bacterial symbionts, comprising reproductive parasites to coevolving...
Insecticides are contributing to global insect declines, thereby creating demand to understand the mechanisms underlying reduced fitness. In the eusocial Hymenoptera, inclusive fitness depends on successful mating of male sexuals (drones) and efficient collaborative brood care by female workers. Therefore, sublethal insecticide effects on sperm and...
PoshBee is a 5-year funded project (2018-2023) that aims to support healthy bee populations, sustainable beekeeping, and consequently pollination for crops and wildflowers across Europe. To do this we take a range of approaches, from the laboratory to the field, from molecules to ecosystems, and from fundamental science to risk assessment. This doc...
Populations of European honeybee subspecies, Apis mellifera , have the ability to adapt naturally to the ectoparasitic mite, Varroa destructor . It is possible that a tolerance to mite-vectored viruses may contribute to colony survival. If this is the case, surviving populations should show lower virus titers and prevalence compared to susceptible...
Small hive beetles (SHB, Aethina tumida Murray, Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) are parasites of social bee colonies endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and have become an invasive species. Even though the global spread of SHB seems inevitable, the origin of novel introductions and their impact on new host populations need to be investigated to foster mitigatio...
A dynamic continuum exists from free-living environmental microbes to strict host associated symbionts that are vertically inherited. However, knowledge of the forces that drive transitions in the modes by which symbioses form is lacking. Arsenophonus is a diverse clade of bacterial symbionts, comprising reproductive parasites to coevolving obligat...
The global trade of honey bee hive products has raised concern about pathogen transmission. However, the efficacy of hive products as virus vehicles is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the transmission capacity of hive products for Deformed wing virus genotype A (DWV-A) in a fully-crossed hoarding cage experiment and estimated the transmiss...
Numerous studies have recently reported on the discovery of bee viruses in different arthropod species and their possible transmission routes, vastly increasing our understanding of these viruses and their distribution. Here, we review the current literature on the recent advances in understanding the transmission of viruses, both on the presence o...
In the past centuries, viruses have benefited from globalization to spread across the globe, infecting new host species and populations. A growing number of viruses have been documented in the western honey bee, Apis mellifera. Several of these contribute significantly to honey bee colony losses. This review synthetizes the knowledge of the diversi...
The main biological threat to the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) is the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, largely because it vectors lethal epidemics of honeybee viruses that, in the absence of this mite, are relatively innocuous. The severe pathology is a direct consequence of excessive virus titres caused by this novel transmission route. Howe...
Emerging infectious diseases are often the products of host shifts, where a pathogen jumps from its original host to a novel species. Viruses in particular cross species barriers frequently. Acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and deformed wing virus (DWV) are viruses described in honey bees (Apis mellifera) with broad host ranges. Ants scavenging on...
Interactions between stressors are involved in the decline of wild species and losses of managed ones. Those interactions are often assumed to be synergistic, and per se of the same nature, even though susceptibility can vary within a single species. However, empirical measures of interaction effects across levels of susceptibility remain scarce. H...
Insect wing deformities can be caused by viruses, mites and other environmental stressors during development. Here, we conducted differential diagnostics of deformed wings in small hive beetles, Aethina tumida (SHB). Adults with and without deformed wings from individual and mass rearing were evaluated for mites, Tyrophagus putrescentiae, and for d...
Virus host shifts occur frequently, but the whole range of host species and the actual transmission pathways are often poorly understood. Deformed wing virus (DWV), an RNA virus described from honeybees (Apis mellifera), has been shown to have a broad host range. Since ants are often scavenging on dead honeybees, foodborne transmission of these vir...
Social insects may accidentally drift into foreign nests due to orientation errors. Even though pathogens have been reported to promote drifting, no data currently exist about the potential impact of titers of the widespread black queen cell virus (BQCV) on the orientation abilities of honey bee workers, Apis mellifera. Here, we investigated titers...
Host shifts of parasites are often causing devastating effects in the new hosts. The Varroa genus is known for a lineage of Varroa destructor that shifted to the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera , with disastrous effects on wild populations and the beekeeping industry. Despite this, the biology of Varroa spp. remains poorly understood in its nativ...
International trade can facilitate biological invasions, but the possible role of beeswax trade for small hive beetles (SHBs), Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) is poorly understood. SHBs are parasites of social bee colonies native to sub-Saharan Africa and have become an invasive species. Since 1996, SHBs have established in all cont...
The parasite Crithidia mellificae (Kinetoplastea: Trypanosomatidae) infects honeybees, Apis mellifera. No pathogenic effects have been found in individual hosts, despite positive correlations between infections and colony mortalities. The solitary bee Osmia cornuta might constitute a host, but controlled infections are lacking to date. Here, we cha...
The global trade of honeybee hive products imposes the risk of the introduction of exotic pests. However, data on the potential of specific products enabling pest survival are often lacking. This holds especially true for ectoparasitic mites Tropilaelaps spp., which are mandatory pests of honeybees in many countries. Here, we evaluated the longevit...
Nosema ceranae is a microsporidian parasite which infects the honey bee mid‐gut epithelium. The protein coding gene Dicer, is lost in most microsporidian genomes, but is present in N. ceranae. By feeding infected honey bees with small interfering RNA targeting the N. ceranae gene coding Dicer (siRNA‐Dicer), we found that N. ceranae spore loads were...
Small hive beetles (SHBs), Aethina tumida, are parasites of social bee colonies native to sub-Saharan Africa and have become an invasive species at a global scale. Reliable Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnosis of this mandatory pest is required to limit its further spread and impact. Here, we have developed SHB primers, which amplify for 10 na...
Multiple infections are common in honey bees, Apis mellifera, but the possible role of nutrition in this regard is poorly understood. Microsporidian infections, which are promoted by protein-fed, can negatively correlate with virus infections, but the role of protein nutrition for the microsporidian-virus interface is unknown. Here, we challenged n...
The trypanosome Lotmaria passim and the microsporidian Nosema ceranae are common
parasites of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, intestine, but the nature of interactions
between them is unknown. Here, we took advantage of naturally occurring
infections and quantified infection loads of individual workers (N = 408) originating
from three apiaries (four...
Social immunity is a key factor for honeybee health, including behavioral defense
strategies such as the collective use of antimicrobial plant resins (propolis). While laboratory data
repeatedly show significant propolis effects, field data are scarce, especially at the colony level. Here,
we investigated whether propolis, as naturally deposited in...
Intracellular endosymbiotic bacteria are common and can play a crucial role for insect pathology. Therefore, such bacteria could be a potential key to our understanding of major losses of Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) colonies. However, the transmission and potential effects of endosymbiotic bacteria in A. mellifera and other Apis spp. are po...
Viruses seem to play a key role in European honey bee, Apis mellifera, health, and have a much broader host spectrum than previously thought. Few studies have investigated interspecific virus transfer within the genus Apis. The introduction of A. mellifera into Asia exposed endemic Apis species to the risk of obtaining new viruses or viral strains...
Parasites and pathogens are apparent key factors for the detrimental health of managed European honey bee subspecies, Apis mellifera. Apicultural trade is arguably the main factor for the almost global distribution of most honey bee diseases, thereby increasing chances for multiple infestations/infections of regions, apiaries, colonies and even ind...
Used primer sets for the molecular detection of pathogens.
(S) indicates the primer sets used for sequencing.
(DOCX)
Queen health is crucial to colony survival of social bees. Recently, queen failure has been proposed to be a major driver of managed honey bee colony losses, yet few data exist concerning effects of environmental stressors on queens. Here we demonstrate for the first time that exposure to field-realistic concentrations of neonicotinoid pesticides d...
B.Sc. Thesis, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 2002, Lima, Peru
Three hundred eleven honeybee samples from twelve 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 high...
Trypanosomatids infecting honey bees have been poorly studied with molecular methods until recently. After the description of Crithidia mellificae Langridge and McGhee, 1967 it took about forty years until molecular data for honey bee trypanosomatids became available and were used to identify and describe a new trypanosomatid species from honey bee...
Sex-related differences in susceptibility to pathogens are a common phenomenon in animals. In the eusocial Hymenoptera the two female castes, workers and queens, are diploid and males are haploid. The haploid susceptibility hypothesis predicts that haploid males are more susceptible to pathogen infections compared to females. Here we test this hypo...
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Deformed wing virus (DWV) represents an ideal model to study the interaction between mode of transmission and virulence in
honey bees since it exhibits both horizontal and vertical transmissions. However, it is not yet clear if venereal–vertical
transmission represents a regular mode of transmission for this virus in natural honey bee populations....
Pollination by honey bees plays a key role in the functioning of ecosystems and optimisation of agricultural yields. Severe honey bee colony losses worldwide have raised concerns about the sustainability of these pollination services. In many cases, bee mortality appears to be the product of many interacting factors, but there is a growing consensu...
Horizontal transmission rates of Paenibacillus larvae within and between colonies in relation to spore source or distance to infected colonies were determined. Bacterial spores found on adult bees represent a greater threat to larvae than spores found in honey. Furthermore, different methods for selecting disease tolerant (hygienic) stock were eval...