Lactobacillus kunkeei strains decreased the infection by honey bee pathogens Paenibacillus larvae and Nosema ceranae

Due to their social behaviour, honey bees can be infected by a wide range of pathogens including the microsporidia Nosema ceranae and the bacteria Paenibacillus larvae. The use of probiotics as food additives for the control or prevention of infectious diseases is a widely used approach to improve human and animal health. In this work, we generated a mixture of four Lactobacillus kunkeei strains isolated from the gut microbial community of bees, and evaluated its potential beneficial effect on larvae and adult bees. Its administration in controlled laboratory models was safe for larvae and bees; it did not affect the expression of immune-related genes and it was able to decrease the mortality associated to P. larvae infection in larvae and the counts of N. ceranae spores from adult honey bees. These promising results suggest that this beneficial microorganism's mixture may be an attractive strategy to improve bee health. Field studies are being carried out to evaluate its effect in naturally infected colonies.Fil: Arredondo, Daniela. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable. Departamento de Microbiología; UruguayFil: Castelli, Luisina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable. Departamento de Microbiología; UruguayFil: Porrini, Martín Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Cs.exactas y Naturales. Instituto de InvestIgaciones Biologicas. Departamento de Biologia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Garrido, Paula Melisa. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; ArgentinaFil: Eguaras, Martin Javier. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Zunino Abirad, Pablo Miguel. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable. Departamento de Microbiología; UruguayFil: Antunez, Karina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable. Departamento de Microbiología; Urugua