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Diversity of honey stores and their impact on pathogenic bacteria of the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

ABSTRACT: Honeybee colonies offer an excellent environment for microbial pathogen development. The highest virulent, colony killing, bacterial agents are Paenibacillus larvae causing American foulbrood (AFB), and European foulbrood (EFB) associated bacteria. Besides the innate immune defense, honeybees evolved behavioral defenses to combat infections. Foraging of antimicrobial plant compounds plays a key role for this "social immunity" behavior. Secondary plant metabolites in floral nectar are known for their antimicrobial effects. Yet, these compounds are highly plant specific, and the effects on bee health will depend on the floral origin of the honey produced. As worker bees not only feed themselves, but also the larvae and other colony members, honey is a prime candidate acting as self-medication agent in honeybee colonies to prevent or decrease infections. Here, we test eight AFB and EFB bacterial strains and the growth inhibitory activity of three honey types. Using a high-throughput cell growth assay, we show that all honeys have high growth inhibitory activity and the two monofloral honeys appeared to be strain specific. The specificity of the monofloral honeys and the strong antimicrobial potential of the polyfloral honey suggest that the diversity of honeys in the honey stores of a colony may be highly adaptive for its "social immunity" against the highly diverse suite of pathogens encountered in nature. This ecological diversity may therefore operate similar to the well-known effects of host genetic variance in the arms race between host and parasite.

SUBMITTER: Erler S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4242578 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Diversity of honey stores and their impact on pathogenic bacteria of the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

Erler Silvio S Denner Andreas A Bobiş Otilia O Forsgren Eva E Moritz Robin F A RF

Ecology and evolution 20140926 20

Honeybee colonies offer an excellent environment for microbial pathogen development. The highest virulent, colony killing, bacterial agents are Paenibacillus larvae causing American foulbrood (AFB), and European foulbrood (EFB) associated bacteria. Besides the innate immune defense, honeybees evolved behavioral defenses to combat infections. Foraging of antimicrobial plant compounds plays a key role for this "social immunity" behavior. Secondary plant metabolites in floral nectar are known for t ...[more]

PMID: 25505523

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Project description:Twenty-five unique CfoI-generated whole-cell DNA profiles were identified in a study of 30 Paenibacillus alvei isolates cultured from honey and diseased larvae collected from honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies in geographically diverse areas in Australia. The fingerprint patterns were highly variable and readily discernible from one another, which highlighted the potential of this method for tracing the movement of isolates in epidemiological studies. 16S rRNA gene fragments (length, 1,416 bp) for all 30 isolates were enzymatically amplified by PCR and subjected to restriction analysis with DraI, HinfI, CfoI, AluI, FokI, and RsaI. With each enzyme the restriction profiles of the 16S rRNA genes from all 30 isolates were identical (one restriction fragment length polymorphism [RFLP] was observed in the HinfI profile of the 16S rRNA gene from isolate 17), which confirmed that the isolates belonged to the same species. The restriction profiles generated by using DraI, FokI, and HinfI differentiated P. alvei from the phylogenetically closely related species Paenibacillus macerans and Paenibacillus macquariensis. Alveolysin gene fragments (length, 1, 555 bp) were enzymatically amplified from some of the P. alvei isolates (19 of 30 isolates), and RFLP were detected by using the enzymes CfoI, Sau3AI, and RsaI. Extrachromosomal DNA ranging in size from 1 to 10 kb was detected in 17 of 30 (57%) P. alvei whole-cell DNA profiles. Extensive biochemical heterogeneity was observed among the 28 P. alvei isolates examined with the API 50CHB system. All of these isolates were catalase, oxidase, and Voges-Proskauer positive and nitrate negative, and all produced acid when glycerol, esculin, and maltose were added. The isolates produced variable results for 16 of the 49 biochemical tests; negative reactions were recorded in the remaining 30 assays. The genetic and biochemical heterogeneity in P. alvei isolates may be a reflection of adaptation to the special habitats in which they originated.

Dataset Information

Diversity of honey stores and their impact on pathogenic bacteria of the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

Publications

Diversity of honey stores and their impact on pathogenic bacteria of the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

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