Abstract
BackgroundHoney bees, Apis mellifera, face many parasites and pathogens and consequently rely on a diverse set of individual and group-level defenses to prevent disease. One route by which honey bees and other insects might combat disease is through the shielding effects of their microbial symbionts. Bees carry a diverse assemblage of bacteria, very few of which appear to be pathogenic. Here we explore the inhibitory effects of these resident bacteria against the primary bacterial pathogen of honey bees, Paenibacillus larvae.ResultsHere we isolate, culture, and describe by 16S rRNA and protein-coding gene sequences 61 bacterial isolates from honey bee larvae, reflecting a total of 43 distinct bacterial taxa. We culture these bacteria alongside the primary larval pathogen of honey bees, Paenibacillus larvae, and show that many of these isolates severely inhibit the growth of this pathogen. Accordingly, symbiotic bacteria including those described here are plausible natural antagonists toward this widespread pathogen.ConclusionThe results suggest a tradeoff in social insect colonies between the maintenance of potentially beneficial bacterial symbionts and deterrence at the individual and colony level of pathogenic species. They also provide a novel mechanism for recently described social components behind disease resistance in insect colonies, and point toward a potential control strategy for an important bee disease.
Highlights
Honey bees, Apis mellifera, face many parasites and pathogens and rely on a diverse set of individual and group-level defenses to prevent disease
The results have general implications for the expression of bacterial virulence in insects and for the maintenance of both beneficial and disease-associated bacteria in social insects. They point to new avenues for the prophylactic or therapeutic treatment of honey bee diseases
Three additional Bacillus isolates showed
Summary
Apis mellifera, face many parasites and pathogens and rely on a diverse set of individual and group-level defenses to prevent disease. One route by which honey bees and other insects might combat disease is through the shielding effects of their microbial symbionts. We explore the inhibitory effects of these resident bacteria against the primary bacterial pathogen of honey bees, Paenibacillus larvae. Like many eukaryotes, can be strongly affected by the microbes they harbor. Social insects provide unique resources for microbial symbionts, thanks to the high density of individuals within colonies, sharing of food and other resources, and the coexistence of colony members from multiple generations. Many species of termites and ants, for example, are obligately tied to specific microbes for their nutritional needs [3,4,5,6]
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