There are viral, fungal, bacterial and trypanosomal pathogens that negatively impact the individual and superorganismal health of the western honey bee. One fungal pathogen, Ascosphaera apis, affects larvae and is the etiological agent of the disease chalkbrood. A previous genome analysis of A. apis revealed that its genome encodes for RNA interference genes, similar to other fungi and eukaryotes. Here, we examined whether A. apis-targeting double-stranded RNA species could disrupt the germination of A. apis. We observed that when spores were co-incubated with A. apis-targeting dsRNA, fewer spores were activated for germination, suggesting an uptake of exogenous genetic material at the very onset of germination and consequent damage to essential transcripts needed for germination. Overall, these results indicate that the causative agent of chalkbrood disease can be successfully targeted using an RNAi-based strategy.

中文翻译：

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dsRNA 的共孵育降低了蜜蜂真菌病原体 Ascosphaera apis 的活孢子比例

有病毒、真菌、细菌和锥虫病原体会对西方蜜蜂的个体和超有机体健康产生负面影响。一种真菌病原体 Ascosphaera apis 会影响幼虫，并且是白垩病的病原体。先前对 A. apis 的基因组分析显示，其基因组编码 RNA 干扰基因，类似于其他真菌和真核生物。在这里，我们检查了 A. apis 靶向双链 RNA 物种是否会破坏 A. apis 的萌发。我们观察到，当孢子与靶向 A. apis 的 dsRNA 共同孵育时，萌发激活的孢子较少，这表明在萌发开始时吸收了外源遗传物质，随后对萌发所需的基本转录本造成了损害。全面的，