Bee a hero!

American and European Foulbrood are diseases found in honey bee (Apis mellifera) beehives all around the world that affect larva in their prepupal stage. The causal agents of these are two gram-positive bacteria, Paenibacillus larvae, and Melissococcus plutonius. Nowadays, two techniques for the treatment of AFB and EFB have used: antibiotics (chloramphenicol and oxytetracycline) and incineration of affected hives. The first technique promotes the development of antibiotic resistance in the bacteria and the second one causes great monetary losses for beekeepers. The production of heterologous proteins in Escherichia coli is proposed for P. larvae and M. plutonius inhibition. An expression vector with native bee antimicrobial peptide genes (defensin 1/abaecin and defensin 2/apidaecin) will be inserted in the bacteria. Interactions between these peptides will be confirmed through a factorial experiment with a factor for each peptide. The final product, purified proteins with a specific packaging that can be released in the presence of P. larvae and M. plutonius will be available for beekeepers to apply in their beehives and inhibit the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria.