Saturday, November 01, 2014

Bee Venom Gland an Important Source of Antimicrobial Substances

A scientific note on the first report of honeybee venom inhibiting Paenibacillus larvae growth
November 2014, Volume 45, Issue 6, pp 719-721
In the eusocial honeybee, Apis mellifera, worker bees use a stinging apparatus for defense. The sting is supplied with venom by glands localized in the abdomen. Honeybee venom (BV) is composed of at least 18 bioactive molecules, ranging from biogenic amines to proteins whose structure and function have been largely determined. These include peptides such as melittin, apamin, adolapin, and mast cell degranulating peptide; biologically active amines; enzymes as phospholipase A2 (PLA2); and a few nonpeptide components (Peiren et al. 2005; Matysiak et al. 2011). Melittin and PLA2 are the most abundant proteins, representing 50 and 12 % of BV dry weight, respectively.
Furthermore, the venom gland has been recently reported as an important source of antimicrobial substances with proven antibacterial and antifungal action (Yu et al. 2012; Han et al. 2013). Nevertheless, data about the effects of BV on infectious pathogens of honeybees are previously absent from the literature…

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