Life Sciences Commons^™

Discovery And Characterization Of Honey Bee Larvae Gut Microbiota, Christopher Fajardo, John Chaston

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Honey bees are currently plagued by an infection known as American Foulbrood (AFB). This disease is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. It is carried by adult Honey bees and becomes an active infection once inside the digestive tract of a Honey bee larvae. Current treatment of this disease is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with negative effects on both the Honey bee and the environment. Research is currently being conducted with the hope to introduce a bacteriophage therapy to the market. This approach will be specific to Paenibacillus larvae without the worries of the current treatments. Our focus is to provide …