Possible correlation between levansucrase production and probiotic activity of Bacillus sp. isolated from honey and honey bee

Abstract

Five bacterial isolates from honey and bee gut were selected based on their high levansucrase activity and levan yield which were strongly positively correlated. All isolates showed good tolerance to temperature up to 70 °C, to NaCl up to 3 M and to 0.1% HO. They maintained over 59 and 64% survival at pH 9.0 and 2.0 respectively, but showed varying tolerance to 0.1% bile salts and pancreatic enzymes. Most isolates were susceptible to widely used antibiotics, but demonstrated diverse antimicrobial activity. Non hemolytic isolates were identified on the basis of 16S rRNA sequencing as Bacillus subtilis HMNig-2 and B. subtilis MENO2 with 97% homology. They exhibited promising probiotic characteristics and achieved highest levansucrase activity of 94.1 and 81.5 U/mL respectively. Both exhibited highest biofilm formation ability in static microtiter plate assay. Also, they achieved 34 and 26% adhesion respectively to Caco-2cells and had highest free radical scavenging activity of 30.8 and 26.2% respectively. The levans of the two isolates showed good antimicrobial activity against some pathogens and exhibited positive prebiotic effect (prebiotic index >1) with Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus reuteri. Results suggest a correlation between levansucrase production, levan yield and pre-probiotic activities of the studied strains.

Characterization of a new efficient low molecular weight Bacillus subtilis NRC16 levansucrase and its levan

“…The isolates were identified, based on morphological examination and 16S rRNA gene sequencing, as B. subtilis . Many reports mentioned B. subtilis as a potent levansucrase producer . In view of wide enzyme application, its optimization is a necessary step for industrial sectors.…”

“…Previously, the levansucrases from Bacillus species have been studied in detail . Several strains related to Bacillus subtilis are used in the commercial production of extracellular enzymes, such as levansucrase . Levansucrase purification faced complexity due to the firm tight between the enzyme and its levan product.…”

Lactic acid bacteria isolated from the Stingless bee Scaptotrigona mexicana and partial characterization of their probiotic activity

“…Microorganisms with probiotic potential can also be isolated from unconventional sources. Jampaphaeng et al (2017) (Hamdy et al, 2017).…”

Evaluation of Different Bacterial Honey Isolates As Probiotics And Their Efficient Roles In Cholesterol Reduction

“…Probiotic microbes are characterized by unique behavior in expressing their ability to give polysaccharides as an important health-promoting factors (Angelin and Kavitha 2020). Bacillus paranthracis ICIS-279 and Bacillus subtilis are probiotics and could be used as models for host-microbiota (gut microbiota) interaction studies (Bukharin et al 2019;Hamdy et al 2017). Levan considered one of the most important polysaccharides playing a signi cant role in increasing stomach bene cial bacteria.…”

“…Most bees honey isolates are distinguished by the formation of levan-type-fructan (Gamal et al 2021). Accordingly, recent research selected the tested probiotic bacteria based on their levansucrase production and their composition of the levan polymer (Hamdy et al (2017;Mostafa et al 2018]. Levan polysaccharide had several applications, such as: prebiotic, anti cancer, and antioxidant agent.…”