Relazioni tra microrganismi e Apoidei (Hymenoptera Apoidea)

Relationships between microorganisms and bees (Hymenoptera Apoidea) The relationships between microorganisms and bees include very different types of associations or interactions. Pathogens are a very relevant group of microorganisms, establishing an antagonistic and often lethal relationship with the bees, although sometimes the relation is characterized by lower virulence and, in the case of some viruses, also by chronic persistence of the pathogen, in a latent state, through several generations of the host. Some protozoa, fungi, bacteria and viruses are pathogenic for bees. Nowadays much research regarding bee health focuses on some pathogens (the microsporidian Nosema as well as the deformed wing virus (DWV) and other viruses) due to their possible correlation with honeybee mortality, colony population decline, colony collapse in a wide sense, and pollinator decline in ecosystems. Singly or in association with each other and, in the case of the honeybee, in connection with infestations by Varroa destructor, the pathogens can represent the cause or a contributing factor of these worrying phenomena. Other types of relationships, either helpful, noxious or neutral for the survival and health of bees, are those established with commensal microoganisms, mutualistic symbionts, symbionts manipulating host reproduction, microorganisms associated with cell provisions and, outside the field of bee health, phytopathogenic microorganisms accidentally carried by bees, and microorganisms antagonistic to phytopathogens, associated by man with bees for biological control purposes. The communities of commensals and symbionts hosted in the gut of Apis mellifera are particularly noteworthy, as their balance plays an important role in the health of the honeybee, including inhibition of pathogen development.