Antiviral Activities of a Medicinal Plant Extract Against Sacbrood Virus in Honeybees

• Published in: Virology journal 2021-04, Vol.18 (1), p.83-83, Article 83
• Main Authors: Sun, Liping, Zhang, Xueqi, Xu, Shufa, Hou, Chunsheng, Xu, Jin, Zhao, Dongxiang, Chen, Yanping
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antiviral activity; Antiviral agent; Antiviral Agents - pharmacology; Apis cerana; Bees - virology; Chinese sacbrood virus; Copy number; Disease; Genomes; Health aspects; Herbal medicine; Humidity; Identification and classification; Iflaviridae; Immunity; Infections; Infectious diseases; Isatis tinctoria; Larva; Larvae; Materia medica, Vegetable; Medicinal plants; Mortality; Pathogens; Plant extracts; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plants, Medicinal - chemistry; Replication; RNA viruses; RNA Viruses - drug effects; Viruses
• ISSN: 1743-422X; 1743-422X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12985-021-01550-y

Sacbrood is an infectious disease of the honey bee caused by Scbrood virus (SBV) which belongs to the family Iflaviridae and is especially lethal for Asian honeybee Apis cerana. Chinese Sacbrood virus (CSBV) is a geographic strain of SBV. Currently, there is a lack of an effective antiviral agent for controlling CSBV infection in honey bees. Here, we explored the antiviral effect of a Chinese medicinal herb Radix isatidis on CSBV infection in A. cerana by inoculating the 3rd instar larvae with purified CSBV and treating the infected bee larvae with R. isatidis extract at the same time. The growth, development, and survival of larvae between the control and treatment groups were compared. The CSBV copy number at the 4th instar, 5th instar, and 6th instar larvae was measured by the absolute quantification PCR method. Bioassays revealed that R. isatidis extract significantly inhibited the replication of CSBV, mitigated the impacts of CSBV on larval growth and development, reduced the mortality of CSBV-infected A. cerana larvae, and modulated the expression of immune transcripts in infected bees. Although the mechanism underlying the inhibition of CSBV replication by the medicine plant will require further investigation, this study demonstrated the antiviral activity of R. isatidis extract and provides a potential strategy for controlling SBV infection in honey bees.