Virus-specific impacts on honey bee flight performance are mediated by the octopamine pathway

High annual honey bee colony losses are associated with environmental and biological stressors, including virus infections. In insects, the octopamine (OA) pathway orchestrates the ‘fight-or-flight’ response, regulating energy mobilization, temperature, and flight. We determined that sacbrood virus (SBV) infections induce expression of an OA receptor and enhance honey flight performance, whereas deformed wing virus (DWV) infections reduce flight performance, but how viruses interface with this pathway remained unknown. To elucidate the relationships between the OA response, virus infection, and flight, honey bees were infected with SBV or DWV and exposed to OA, epinastine (EP) – an OA receptor antagonist, or both OA and EP; flight and gene expression were assessed. Pharmacologic manipulation revealed that OA supplementation rescued flight deficits in DWV-infected bees, but diminished performance in SBV-infected bees, while blocking OA receptors altered these effects. Transcriptome analyses indicated that SBV infections, and DWV infection with OA treatment, activated honey bee metabolic pathways, and that SBV-infected bees had greater expression of genes involved in OA synthesis, unless treated with OA. These results provide mechanistic insight for virus-specific impacts on honey bee flight, which may have consequences for foraging efficiency, colony health, and virus transmission.