Novel fungal proteins in the chalkbrood infection of honey bee larvae

Discovery of novel fungal secreted proteins not only shed light on the biology of the secreting organism it may also lead to industrial exploitation. We expect that this is especially true for investigating the interaction between two organisms, which largely relies on secreted protein signals. Here we investigate the interaction between the honey bee and its fungal pathogen Ascosphaera apis, the causative agent of chalkbrood, by identifying enzymes secreted by bee and fungus during different timepoints of infection. Upon testing A. apis-infected larvae for enzyme activity, the larvae exhibiting significant activity were used to produce cDNA libraries. These dual organism cDNA libraries were then screened by transposon-assisted signal sequence trapping (TAST), a method well established for identifying genes for secreted proteins (Becker et al. (2004) J Microbiol Methods 57:123-133). After the trappants are sequenced and annotated, selected genes are further described. As a result, we will deepen the understanding of chalkbrood, one of the main honey bee pests with relevant impact on the economy, among others due to the essential role of bees in pollination.