Team:Tec-Chihuahua
Bee a hero!
American and European Foulbrood are diseases affecting honey bee (Apis mellifera) larvae all around the world. 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 are used: antibiotics and incineration of affected hives. The former promotes the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria while the latter results unprofitable for beekeepers. The production of native bee antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) in Escherichia coli is proposed to treat P. larvae and M. plutonius infections. Defensin 1, abaecin, defensin 2, and apidaecin will each be expressed in a different culture. A 2⁴ factorial design will be used to identify the optimal AMP combination. The final product, AMPs with a specific packaging that can be released in the presence of Foulbrood, will be available for beekeepers to apply in their beehives and inhibit the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria.
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