ECTA_20180301 - Revelando patrones de transmisión de pat

One of the main threats to bee health is the proliferation of pathogens and parasites infecting both managed and wild bees. Diseases are often the tipping point collapsing bee populations already exposed to human-induced rapid environmental changes. While there is evidence of some pathogen transmission from managed to wild bee populations, the prevalence and mechanisms behind this phenomenon are largely unknown. Moreover, despite the great advances made for understanding the effect of plant-bee networks for the stability of the ecosystem, we know virtually nothing about how the pathogen-bee network is organized or its consequences for bee population dynamics. The overarching aim of our study is to investigate the mechanisms underlying the pathogen transmission patterns in pollinator communities. Recent advances in DNA sequencing may allow us to get a glimpse of this problem for the first time.