publication date: Apr 19, 2012
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author/source: University of Aberdeen
A major
investment from public and private sector organisations is helping scientists
to develop completely new ways of tackling the biggest killer of honey bees
worldwide - the bloodsucking
Varroa
destructor mite.
Researchers
from the University of Aberdeen and the National Bee Unit, part of the Food and
Environment Research Agency, have worked out how to ‘knock down' genes in the
parasitic mite causing it to die.
So far the
work has only been done in the lab but now the team can take their work a step
closer towards developing a product that could help beekeepers thanks to
funding worth over a quarter of a million pounds from Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Vita (Europe) Ltd.
Dr Alan
Bowman, who is heading up the research, said: "Honey bees are incredibly
important because of their pollination of flowers of both wild and farmed
plants.
"But their
numbers are seriously declining year on year and while there are probably
several reasons for this, one of the most important factors is
Varroa destructor that
sucks the blood from bees and transmits serious viral diseases.
"There is an
urgent need to develop a varroa-specific, environmentally friendly treatment or
some method of overcoming the varroa's resistance mechanism to existing
treatments and that's what we are now working towards."
Max Watkins,
Technical Director of Vita (Europe) Ltd, a major funder of the research, said:
"Finding treatments that kill varroa mites, but don't harm honeybees, bee
products or the environment is not easy. The challenge is heightened because
the relatively short life cycle of the varroa mite means that resistance to a
single treatment can often develop quite quickly unless beekeepers alternate
treatments of different types. Vita is therefore supporting this exciting and
innovative research and hopes that an effective and environmentally sensitive
treatment can eventually be developed at a cost that is affordable to
beekeepers across the globe."
Dr Giles
Budge, from the National Bee Unit at Fera (the Food and Environment Research
Agency) added: "We are delighted to be in a position to progress this research,
playing our part facilitating the translation of science from brilliant
academics at Aberdeen to a company like Vita which has an established record of
research, development and marketing of new honey bee health products. It is
particularly exciting to see our work move from the bench into products which
could become commercially available to help beekeepers."
Researchers
will create and scour databases of all the varroa genes in a bid to identify
the ones that can be effectively and safely targeted by potential new
treatments.
Dr Bowman
added: "We rely on honey bees to pollinate our crops and add variety to our
diets, which is why there is a real need to tackle the problem of their
decline. Having proved our concept in the lab we are delighted that this
funding will allow us to develop our research to have real-world impact."
About
Vita (Europe) Ltd
Vita
(Europe) Limited is a mite control and honeybee health specialist. It is the
world's largest dedicated supplier of honeybee health products to the honey and
pollination industries With headquarters in the UK, offices in Italy, France
and Russia, and partners across the globe, Vita researches, develops, and
manufactures a range of honeybee health products. These products are marketed
internationally through a network of 60 distributors in 50 countries.
About
BBSRC
BBSRC
invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK
public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth,
wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.
Funded by
Government, and with an annual budget of around £445M, we support research and
training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research
and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including
food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments
underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial
biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
For more
information about BBSRC, our science and our impact visit
www.bbsrc.ac.uk.
For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes visit
www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutes.