Research Article(보문)
Environmental Microbiology | Microbial Genomes and Metagenomics
Microbiol. Biotechnol. Lett.
Received: October 11, 2024; Revised: November 17, 2024
Investigation of microbial composition in sacbrood virus-infected Apis cerana honey
Pham Thi Lanh 1 and Dong Van Quyen 1, 2*
1Molecular Microbiology Lab, Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam, 2Graduate university of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam
Correspondence to :
Dong Van Quyen, Institute of Biotechnology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam., E-mail : dvquyen@gmail.com
Honey is a sweet and nutritious food produced by honeybees and serves as a significant route for contamination, spreading many microorganisms, particularly pathogens, that can affect the health of both honeybees and the consumers. Sacbrood disease (SD) is one of the most dangerous honeybee diseases, caused by Sacbrood virus (SBV), which can affect honeybee health and honey production. This study investigated the bacterial composition in SD-affected Apis cerana honey using next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene. Additionally, pathogenic bacterial isolates from the honey samples were isolated and characterized. The results revealed that the microbial composition of A. cerana honey with SD was dominated by two major bacterial phyla: Proteobacteria (81.65%) and Firmicutes (11.72%). Among the 176 bacterial species identified in the honey samples, some potential human and animal pathogens were found in considerable abundances, including Achromobacter xylosoxidans (20%) and Ochrobactrum intermedium (6%). Additionally, various environmental bacteria and honeybee symbionts were detected, including the Bartonella apis group (13.4%), the Rosenbergiella nectarea group (5.75%), Apibacter mensalis (2.2%), the Gilliamella apicola group (1.6%), and lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (5.38%). The antibiotic sensitivity analysis revealed that while eight Achromobacter isolates exhibited sensitivity to most of the tested antibiotics, they all demonstrated resistance to gentamicin, a commonly used antibiotic in Vietnamese beekeeping practices. These findings suggest that SBV infection may promote the colonization of potential pathogenic and environmental bacteria in honey. Our study offers valuable insights into the management of honeybee diseases and the improvement of honey quality control.
Keywords: Apis cerana, Achromobacter, bacterial contamination, honey, Sacbrood virus
