The fungal parasite Nosema is deadly to honeybee colonies and evolving resistance to fungicides, but engineered bacteria may help bees resist infection
A genetically engineered gut bacterium has helped protect honeybees from a major hive parasite in lab experiments. The bacterium producesNosema ceranaeusing a harpoon-like weapon. Infected cells release spores that the bees defecate.
Parasite levels typically build up over winters when bad weather keeps honeybees inside hives, and can kill many workers. “It is a really significant parasite,” says Nancy Moran at the University of Texas at Austin. The only treatment shown to be effective is a fungicide called fumagillin, but it can harm bees and other animals and is now banned in the European Union. What’s more,based on a phenomenon known as gene silencing or RNA interference . When cells detect bits of double-stranded RNA, they see it as a viral attack and respond by destroying RNAs that contain a matching sequence. That means the protein coded for by those specific RNAs doesn’t get made. Double-stranded RNA is rapidly destroyed in mammalian guts, but in some insects it can enter cells and switch off, or silence, specific genes. That has led to hopes of developing
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