FEMS Microbiology Letters (2012) 330, 17-22

Annette B. Jensen, Dennis L. Welker, Per Kryger and Rosalind R. James (2012)
Polymorphic DNA sequences of the fungal honey bee pathogen Ascosphaera apis
FEMS Microbiology Letters 330 (1), 17-22
Abstract: The pathogenic fungus Ascosphaera apis is ubiquitous in honey bee populations. We used the draft genome assembly of this pathogen to search for polymorphic intergenic loci that could be used to differentiate haplotypes. Primers were developed for five such loci, and the species specificities were verified using DNA from nine closely related species. The sequence variation was compared among 12 A. apis isolates at each of these loci, and two additional loci, the internal transcribed spacer of the ribosomal RNA (ITS) and a variable part of the elongation factor 1α (Ef1α). The degree of variation was then compared among the different loci, and three were found to have the greatest detection power for identifying A. apis haplotypes. The described loci can help to resolve strain differences and population genetic structures, to elucidate host-pathogen interaction and to test evolutionary hypotheses for the world's most important pollinator: the honey bee and one of its most common pathogens.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Annette Bruun Jensen, Per Kryger

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ascosphaera apis