CHARACTERIZATION AND SEROLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS OF STRAINS OF KASHMIR BEE VIRUS

Isolates of novel strains of Kashmir bee virus (KBV) were obtained fro m field-collected dead adults of Apis mellifera from honey bee colonie s in Canada and Spain. They differed from other strains of KBV in thei r tendency to aggregate in dilute buffer solution and in containing on ly three proteins when analysed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophore sis compared with five proteins resolved in the type strain of KBV fro m Apis cerana in India and six proteins in KBV strains from South Aust ralia and New Zealand. Immunodiffusion tests and Western blotting stud ies indicated that the five virus isolates were serologically related and all were related to acute paralysis virus (APV). The world distrib ution of KBV strains and their apparent relationship with APV are disc ussed.