Staff View: First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia

First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia

Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica become popular in Malaysia as honey producer in the 21st century. Like other bee species, stingless bees can be infected by pathogens. Disease-related population declines may affect honey production, agricultural productivity, and biodiversity. Thus, th...

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Main Authors:	Amirthalingam, Vinailosni, Ataa, Nur Syuhada Mohd, Mahmuddin, Siti Sarah, Adam, Nur Azura, Nai, Yu-Shin, Lau, Wei-Hong
Format:	Article
Published:	Elsevier 2023
Online Access:	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105688/ https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85179615750&doi=10.1016%2fj.aspen.2023.102173&partnerID=40&md5=92c78c964b6ae015d8dccee77a2e877b
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spelling	my.upm.eprints.1056882024-02-13T03:55:57Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105688/ First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia Amirthalingam, Vinailosni Ataa, Nur Syuhada Mohd Mahmuddin, Siti Sarah Adam, Nur Azura Nai, Yu-Shin Lau, Wei-Hong Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica become popular in Malaysia as honey producer in the 21st century. Like other bee species, stingless bees can be infected by pathogens. Disease-related population declines may affect honey production, agricultural productivity, and biodiversity. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the health status of stingless bee colonies in selected bee farms in Malaysia. Adults Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica were collected from 79 colonies in 9 farms and screened for known pathogens of honey bees and stingless bees using 15 primer sets. All results were negative, indicating the absence of these pathogens in the bee specimens. During the bee sampling at Infoport Halal Hub UPM, we encountered a collapsed colony of H. itama. A fungal isolate was isolated and confirmed to be Aspergillus caelatus. Virulence tests revealed that A. caelatus exhibited high virulence to both H. itama and G. thoracica. Infected larvae became lethargic after 1–2 day after treatment (DAT) with white mycelium developed on their integument. The fungus caused 100 larval mortality in both H. itama and G. thoracica after 8 DAT, with LC50 values of 7.58 × 103 conidia/µl and 6.24 × 103 conidia/µl respectively. Yellow-green conidia were observed on the cadavers. A. caelatus demonstrated high virulence towards both H. itama and G. thoracica, leading to severe larval mortality. This study represents the first documented case of a disease infecting stingless bees in Malaysia. Future research is needed to assess the prevalence of A. caelatus in various stingless bee species and other pollinators within the country. © 2023 Korean Society of Applied Entomology Elsevier 2023-12 Article PeerReviewed Amirthalingam, Vinailosni and Ataa, Nur Syuhada Mohd and Mahmuddin, Siti Sarah and Adam, Nur Azura and Nai, Yu-Shin and Lau, Wei-Hong (2023) First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, 27 (1). art. no. 102173. pp. 1-8. ISSN 1226-8615 https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85179615750&doi=10.1016%2fj.aspen.2023.102173&partnerID=40&md5=92c78c964b6ae015d8dccee77a2e877b 10.1016/j.aspen.2023.102173
institution	Universiti Putra Malaysia
building	UPM Library
collection	Institutional Repository
continent	Asia
country	Malaysia
content_provider	Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source	UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
description	Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica become popular in Malaysia as honey producer in the 21st century. Like other bee species, stingless bees can be infected by pathogens. Disease-related population declines may affect honey production, agricultural productivity, and biodiversity. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the health status of stingless bee colonies in selected bee farms in Malaysia. Adults Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica were collected from 79 colonies in 9 farms and screened for known pathogens of honey bees and stingless bees using 15 primer sets. All results were negative, indicating the absence of these pathogens in the bee specimens. During the bee sampling at Infoport Halal Hub UPM, we encountered a collapsed colony of H. itama. A fungal isolate was isolated and confirmed to be Aspergillus caelatus. Virulence tests revealed that A. caelatus exhibited high virulence to both H. itama and G. thoracica. Infected larvae became lethargic after 1–2 day after treatment (DAT) with white mycelium developed on their integument. The fungus caused 100 larval mortality in both H. itama and G. thoracica after 8 DAT, with LC50 values of 7.58 × 103 conidia/µl and 6.24 × 103 conidia/µl respectively. Yellow-green conidia were observed on the cadavers. A. caelatus demonstrated high virulence towards both H. itama and G. thoracica, leading to severe larval mortality. This study represents the first documented case of a disease infecting stingless bees in Malaysia. Future research is needed to assess the prevalence of A. caelatus in various stingless bee species and other pollinators within the country. © 2023 Korean Society of Applied Entomology
format	Article
author	Amirthalingam, Vinailosni Ataa, Nur Syuhada Mohd Mahmuddin, Siti Sarah Adam, Nur Azura Nai, Yu-Shin Lau, Wei-Hong
spellingShingle	Amirthalingam, Vinailosni Ataa, Nur Syuhada Mohd Mahmuddin, Siti Sarah Adam, Nur Azura Nai, Yu-Shin Lau, Wei-Hong First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia
author_facet	Amirthalingam, Vinailosni Ataa, Nur Syuhada Mohd Mahmuddin, Siti Sarah Adam, Nur Azura Nai, Yu-Shin Lau, Wei-Hong
author_sort	Amirthalingam, Vinailosni
title	First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia
title_short	First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia
title_full	First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia
title_fullStr	First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia
title_sort	first record of aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of heterotrigona itama and geniotrigona thoracica in malaysia
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2023
url	http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/105688/ https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85179615750&doi=10.1016%2fj.aspen.2023.102173&partnerID=40&md5=92c78c964b6ae015d8dccee77a2e877b
_version_	1792154557020635136
score	13.211869

First record of Aspergillus caelatus as a pathogen of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica in Malaysia

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