Isolation and Some Basic Characteristics of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Environment—A Preliminary Study

Abstract

In light of the phenomenon of colony collapse disorder, there has been a growing interest in finding natural and ecological ways for improving honeybee health. The aim of this scientific research was the isolation and characterization of LAB, which in the future could show the potential to construct a protective preparation for honeybees. After performing MALDI-TOF analysis, of a total of 76 bacterial strains isolated from flowers and honeybee products, 31 were identified as Pediococcus pentosaceus, 26 as Pediococcus acidilactici, and 19 as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum. The characterization of the isolated LAB displayed that CO2 production was present in 52 strains. The highest biomass productivity was observed in the case of strain 9/1 isolated from red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) with biomass productivity equal to 2.100. All isolated bacterial strains showed the ability to produce lactic acid. The strain 13/3 isolated from small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata L.) displayed the highest lactic acid production capacity in 100 mL of culture, i.e., 1.903 g of lactic acid. The carbohydrate assimilation pattern was examined using API 50 CH tests. All isolated strains were able to utilize esculin, D-ribose, D-galactose, D-glucose D-fructose, and D-mannose. It was also noted that the reduction of sugars is a strain-dependent ability and is specific for individual strains.

Antagonistic Activity of Potentially Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria against Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Pathogens

“…This study focuses on determining the antagonistic activity of LAB also naturally occurring in the environment of honeybees against known honeybee pathogens and opportunistic pathogens. Some of the LAB used in the presented experiments were previously isolated from the honeybee environment and characterized [36]. The effect of LAB metabolites on the inhibition of the growth of honeybee pathogens (at physiological and neutralized pH) was tested to check their postbiotic properties.…”

Binding and Detoxification of Insecticides by Potentially Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) Environment—An In Vitro Study

“…These were: Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (8AN, 145, 10/2, 14/3, 18/1, 21/1), Pediococcus acidilactici (4/1, 5/2, 6/1, 7/1, 8/1, 9/3, 22/1, 25/1, 35/1), Pediococcus pentosaceus (11/3, 14/1, 19/1), Levilactobacillus brevis KKA, Lacticaseibacillus casei 12AN, Lactobacillus acidophilus 573, Ligilactobacillus salivarius 9AN, and Pediococcus parvulus OK-S. These were isolates from honeybee environments (i.e., L. plantarum 10/2, 14/3, 18/1, and 21/1; P. acidilactici 4/1, 5/2, 6/1, 7/1, 8/1, 9/3, 22/1, 25/1, and 35/1; P. pentosaceus 11/3, 14/1, and 19/1) such as flowers, honey, or bee pollen (their isolation and characteristics were published previously [ 46 ]), as well as collection strains ( L. plantarum 8AN and 145; L. brevis KKA; L. casei 12AN, L. acidophilus 573, L. salivarius 9AN, and P. parvulus OK-S of different origins, e.g., fermented cabbage, fermented cucumbers, human feces—see Section 3.2 ) acquired from the collection of the Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Lodz University of Technology. Apilactobacillus kunkeei DSM 12361, which is a strain naturally inhabiting the honeybee gut microbiota, was used as a control (reference) strain and was purchased from the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH.…”

“…There is also a lack of in-depth research on the effect of LAB on the reduction of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of pesticides in cell lines. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the ability of several LAB strains, mostly isolated from honeybee environments [ 46 ], to detoxify three insecticides: chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, and imidacloprid. In the first stage, the survival of LAB in the presence of the above-mentioned insecticides was studied, followed by the ability to bind them to the bacterial cell wall (by live and thermally inactivated cells), and then the degree of their detoxification (cytotoxicity and genotoxicity) was estimated on three cell lines.…”

Screening of protease-producing lactic acid bacteria from Indonesian fermented fish products and its application in chitin extraction from vannamei shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) shell

“…Furthermore, these 28 single isolates were subjected to biochemical tests to characterize them as lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were identified as Gram-positive (+) bacteria, catalase-negative (-), nonspore-forming, non-motile, and typically displayed a round or rod-shaped morphology [13]. The results of the bacterial isolate characterization are shown in Table 1.…”