Brevibacillus laterosporus isolated from the digestive tract of honeybees has high antimicrobial activity and promotes growth and productivity of honeybee’s colonies

Abstract

The development of novel antimicrobial drugs, as well as the discovery of novel compounds able to promote honeybee's growth, represents major challenges for modern entomology. The main aim of this study was to investigate whether Brevibacillus laterosporus isolated from the digestive tract of Saudi honeybees, Apis mellifera, was able to stimulate colony strength parameters of honeybees and to evaluate its ability to produce antimicrobial agents. Honeybees were collected in Dirab, Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia, and microorganisms were isolated and identified by 16S ribosomal RNA analysis. Microscopic identification of the microorganism in its native state was facilitated by atomic force microscopy at high-resolution imaging. Active biological compounds were produced by submerged fermentation with B. laterosporus. The fermented broth was subjected to extraction and purification, and then semi-pure compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The effectiveness of the crude extract and semi-pure compounds as antimicrobial agents was evaluated by susceptibility assays. More than 22% of the microorganisms isolated from the digestive tract of healthy honeybees have been identified as B. laterosporus, this kind of species has a unique shape and morphological structure. The cyclic dipeptide cyclo(Leu-Pro) produced by B. laterosporus showed biological activity against several pathogenic microorganisms. Furthermore, the total counts of workers, closed brood, and open brood, as well as the production of bee pollen and honey, were better in honeybees treated with a B. laterosporus suspension. The data indicated that the B. laterosporus strain isolated from a healthy honeybee might be a novel probiotic and a producer of important biological compounds.

The Effect of Pesticides on the Microbiome of Animals

“…In addition to lactobacilli, Brevibacillus laterosporus was isolated from the digestive tract of the honey bee, which can stimulate the growth of bee colonies [111]. This bacterium has a unique shape and morphological structure.…”

Multi-omics analysis to examine microbiota, host gene expression and metabolites in the intestine of black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) with different growth performance

“…have been identified as potential probiotics in seabass (Mahdhi et al, 2012) and as antimicrobial peptide producers (Yang & Yousef, 2018). For example, B. laterosporus isolated from the honeybee digestive tract has been reported to have probiotic effect and promote growth of the honeybees (Khaled et al, 2018). B. reuszeri has been shown to be able to produce amino acids, which are essential nutrients required for growth (Wang et al, 2015).…”

Understanding the Effects of Sublethal Pesticide Exposure on Honey Bees: A Role for Probiotics as Mediators of Environmental Stress

“…A lesser understood aspect of honey bee immunity is the role of the microbiota in both direct and indirect pathogen inhibition. It is well documented that through direct inhibition, microbiota constituents are able to counter pathogens via competitive inhibition, production of organic acids, and secretion of antimicrobial molecules Armstrong, 2005, 2006;Forsgren et al, 2010;Olofsson et al, 2016;Khaled et al, 2018). Additionally, the microbiota can indirectly improve pathogen resistance by stimulating multiple aspects of individual immunity.…”