In the present work, five hundred and sixty-seven isolates of lactic acid bacteria were
recovered from raw bee pollen grains. All isolates were screened for their antagonistic
activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. Neutralized
supernatants of 54 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) cultures from 216 active isolates inhibited
the growth of indicator bacteria. They were phenotypically characterized, based on the
fermentation of 39 carbohydrates. Using the simple matching coefficient and unweighted
pair group algorithm with arithmetic averages (UPGMA), seven clusters with other two
members were defined at the 79% similarity level. The following species were
characterized: Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus
fermentum, Lactococcus lactis, Pediococcus
acidilactici, Pediococcus pentosaceus, and unidentified
lactobacilli. Phenotypic characteristics of major and minor clusters were also identified.
Partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of representative isolates from each cluster was
performed, and ten strains were assigned to seven species: Lactobacillus
plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactococcus
lactis, Lactobacillus ingluviei, Pediococcus
pentosaceus, Lactobacillus acidipiscis and Weissella
cibaria. The molecular method used failed to determine the exact taxonomic
status of BH0900 and AH3133.