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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

comparative genome analysis, novel Paenibacillus larvae, bacteriophage, American Foulbrood, AFB

College

Life Sciences

Department

Microbiology and Molecular Biology

Abstract

Honey bees pollinate one third of the crops in the U.S. diet. The spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae causes American Foulbrood (AFB), a highly contagious disease that is lethal in honey bee larvae. P. larvae is the most serious pathogen affecting honey bees. The spores can be found in any healthy beehive, are stable for 40 years or more, and cannot be killed by antibiotics. The disease manifests itself when worker bees feed P. larvae spores to larvae and the spores germinate. The bacteria then consume the larvae and turns back into a spore that the worker bees then transfer throughout the hive.

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Microbiology Commons

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