Nosema neumanni n. sp. (Microsporidia, Nosematidae), a new microsporidian parasite of honeybees, Apis mellifera in Uganda

Moses Chemurot; Lina De Smet; Marleen Brunain; Riet De Rycke; Dirk C de Graaf

doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2017.07.002

Nosema neumanni n. sp. (Microsporidia, Nosematidae), a new microsporidian parasite of honeybees, Apis mellifera in Uganda

Eur J Protistol. 2017 Oct;61(Pt A):13-19. doi: 10.1016/j.ejop.2017.07.002. Epub 2017 Jul 19.

Authors

Moses Chemurot¹, Lina De Smet², Marleen Brunain², Riet De Rycke³, Dirk C de Graaf⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Molecular Entomology and Bee Pathology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
² Laboratory of Molecular Entomology and Bee Pathology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
³ Inflammation Research Center, VIB, Ghent, Belgium and Department of Biomedical Molecular Biology, Ghent University, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, Ghent, Belgium and Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
⁴ Laboratory of Molecular Entomology and Bee Pathology, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 S2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: dirk.degraaf@ugent.be.

PMID: 28826077
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejop.2017.07.002

Abstract

The microsporidium Nosema neumanni n. sp., a new parasite of the honeybee Apis mellifera is described based on its ultra-structural and molecular characteristics. Structures resembling microsporidian spores were found by microscopic examination of honeybees from Uganda. Molecular confirmation failed when PCR primers specific for Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae were used, but was successful with primers covering the whole family of Nosematidae. We performed transmission electron microscopy and found typical microsporidian spores which were smaller (length: 2.36±0.14μm and width: 1.78±0.06μm; n=6) and had fewer polar filament coils (10-12) when compared to those of known species infecting honeybees. The entire 16S SSU rRNA region was amplified, cloned and sequenced and was found to be unique with the highest resemblance (97% identity) to N. apis. The incidence of N. neumanni n. sp. in Ugandan honeybees was found to be much higher than of the two other Nosema species.

Keywords: 16 SSU rRNA; African honeybee; Microsporidia; Nosematidae; Nosemosis; Ultra-structure.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bees / parasitology*
Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
Nosema / classification*
Nosema / genetics
Nosema / ultrastructure
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
Species Specificity
Uganda

Substances

RNA, Ribosomal, 16S