Scanning Electron Microscopy of Microsporidia Isolated from Gut Epithelium of Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Abstract

Honey bees (Apoidea) are considered to be the best pollinators of various wild plants and crops that are not wind pollinated and have proved themselves as an essential part of worldwide biodiversity along with providing necessary products to biological community, who solely depend on bee products (honey, bee wax, propolis) for their livelihood. The fear of honey bees’ decline has provoked an ultimate watchfulness to know more about the reason. The present study is designed to generate knowledge of the parasite- microsporidia isolated from the gut epithelium of honey bees’ by performing scanning electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the spore as oval and cylindrical with 7.04 x 4.83 µm size. Spore size observed is slightly larger than the standard values (4-6 x 2-4 µm). This might be due to climatic factors acting upon the microsporidian sp. SEM revealed the ultra-structural characteristics of the microsporidia, however, the exact species identification is only possible with the help of molecular techniques.