TARGETING MICRORNA TARGETS IN VARROA BIOLOGY

This projectseeks to improve our fundamental knowledge of the Varroa's innate immune system evolution by characterizing immune system response and immune cell specification. This project will use system biology approaches to characterize hemocytes and their responses to viral infection in a nonmodel arthropod species, Varroa destructor. DWV is acquired through the meal by the Varroa. The overarching goal is to identify targets for developing new strategies to block virus transmission and disrupt varroa physiology by pursuing the following objectives.1. To generate single-cell small RNA sequencing from Varroa destructor hemocytes for downstream analysis.?2. To functionally characterize the identified miRNAs using miRNA inhibitors to control the Varroa infestation and viral transmission to the honey bees.