In Vivo Inhibitory Assessment of Potential Antifungal Agents on Nosema ceranae Proliferation in Honey Bees
2022
Rassol Bahreini | Medhat Nasr | Cassandra Docherty | Olivia de Herdt | David Feindel | Samantha Muirhead
Nosema :ceranae Fries, 1996, causes contagious fungal nosemosis disease in managed honey bees, Apis :mellifera L. It is associated around the world with winter losses and colony collapse disorder. We used a laboratory in vivo screening assay to test curcumin, fenbendazole, nitrofurazone and ornidazole against N. ceranae in honey bees to identify novel compounds with anti-nosemosis activity compared to the commercially available medication Fumagilin-B®:. Over a 20-day period, Nosema-inoculated bees in Plexiglas cages were orally treated with subsequent dilutions of candidate compounds, or Fumagilin-B®: at the recommended dose, with three replicates per treatment. Outcomes indicated that fenbendazole suppressed Nosema spore proliferation, resulting in lower spore abundance in live bees (0.36 ±: 1.18 million spores per bee) and dead bees (0.03 ±: 0.25 million spores per bee), in comparison to Fumagilin-B®:-treated live bees (3.21 ±: 2.19 million spores per bee) and dead bees (3.5 ±: 0.6 million spores per bee). Our findings suggest that Fumagilin-B®: at the recommended dose suppressed Nosema. However, it was also likely responsible for killing Nosema-infected bees (24% mortality). Bees treated with fenbendazole experienced a greater survival probability (71%), followed by ornidazole (69%), compared to Nosema-infected non-treated control bees (20%). This research revealed that among screened compounds, fenbendazole, along with ornidazole, has potential effective antifungal activities against N. ceranae in a controlled laboratory environment.
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