SCIENTISTS find GENES that HELP BEES DEFEND against MITES

Purdue University researchers are zeroing in on genes that help honeybees defend against varroa mites, one of the largest factors in bee population declines.

Varroa mites are parasites that attack honeybees and infect them with viruses that cause death. The mites can infest and kill entire bee colonies.

But certain honeybees have developed defensive behaviors that allow them to kill the varroa mites or disrupt mite reproduction. Greg Hunt, a professor of behavioral genetics, and Jennifer Tsuruda, a Purdue postdoctoral researcher, are searching for the genes that provide those defenses and believe they've narrowed the options considerably.

"Bees are fighting back. They're getting rid of the mites themselves," said Hunt, whose findings were published in two papers in PLOS ONE. "We can select for these traits now, but it's tedious. If we can identify the genes that influence these traits, we could develop better methods to screen for these genes and speed the process."

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