Plant alkaloid sanguinarine and novel potential probiotic strains Lactobacillus apis, Lactobacillus melliventris and Gilliamella apicola promote resistance of honey bees to nematobacterial infection
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Bulletin of Insectology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://www.bulletinofinsectology.org/pdfarticles/vol70-2017-031-038hyrsl.pdf |
| Field | Immunology |
| Keywords | entomopathogenic nematode; honey bee; immunity; non-pathogenic bacteria; plant alkaloid |
| Description | Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are obligate insect parasites symbiotically associated with entomopathogenic bacteria. They can be used as a natural infection model combining bacterial infection with infection by multicellular parasite and as such, can be used in biological control and also offer a powerful tool to study insect immunity. Both mix of non-pathogenic bacteria and even nectar alkaloids were previously hypothesized to positively modulate honey bee health. We used EPNs for evaluating the overall immune resistance of honey bee larvae treated with potentially immuno-modulating substances - a plant alkaloid sanguinarine (extracted from Macleaya cordata) and non-pathogenic strains of Lactobacillus apis, Lactobacillus melliventris and Gilliamella apicola, native to honey bee gut isolates. Honey bee 5th instar larvae (L5) and white pupae were infected with Heterorhabditis bacteriophora or Steinernema feltiae, both carrying their symbiotic bacteria. In comparison to untreated honey bee larvae we ob-served an increase in survival of 13.5 ± 6.43 or 11.25 ± 5.77% in case of sanguinarine and S. feltiae or H. bacteriophora, respec-tively. Similarly, mix of above mentioned bacteria inoculated at the same time increased survivorship to 23.25 ± 1.53 or 11.0 ± 6.0% for S. feltiae or H. bacteriophora. This is the first record of use of nematobacterial infection for evaluating the immune status of a beneficial insect. Addition of low doses of both sanguinarine and non-pathogenic strains of selected bacteria had a positive impact on the resistance of honey bee to pathogen. This method can serve as a valuable tool for immunological tests in honey bees. |
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