Polysaccharide hydrolyzing enzyme activity of bacteria, native to Apis florea gut

Introduction and Aim: Apis florea commonly known as “dwarf honey bee” harbors enormous gut bacteria that can digest complex carbohydrates and other food components. In this regard, the present investigation was focused on analyzing the polysaccharide degrading ability of bacteria isolated from the gut of honeybee, for their possible application in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries. Materials and Methods: Nine bacterial isolates were screened for carbohydrate degrading enzymes viz., amylase, pectinase, cellulase, tannase and laccase, using respective substrate by plate assay method. Further activities of amylase and pectinase were measured quantitatively by dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) method. Results: All the nine selected isolates exhibited amylase and pectinase activities. However, only two isolates exhibited lignolytic and cellulolytic activity. None of the isolates showed tannin degradation. Maximum amylase activity (4.95 U/mg) was observed in Bacillus halotolerans af-M9 followed by Klebsiella oxytoca af-G4 (4.62 U/mg). With respect to pectinase activity Klebsiella pneumoniae af-E17 displayed higher activity (0.24 U/mg) followed by Klebsiella oxytoca af-G4 (0.20 U/mg). Conclusion: Habitat-specific innovations are being explored for novel compounds for therapeutic applications. This study throws a light on selection of carbohydrate degrading bacteria from a new source i.e., GUT of honeybee.

Gut Bacterial Inhabitants of Open Nested Honey Bee, Apis Florea

Honey bees are complex social system, which are highly dynamic having close interactions with their surrounding environment. Gut microbiota of honey bees has a major role in interaction behavior with its environment and health. Apis florea is the primitive among all the honey bees and are indigenous to Indian subcontinent. The study reports the identification and analysis of bacteria in the gut of wild species of honey bee, Apis florea, by culture-based and culture-independent methods. Cultured bacteria were identified and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS and 16S rRNA sequencing. A comprehensive analysis and identification of non-culturable bacteria were performed by 16S rRNA amplicon next generation sequencing. The sequence analysis approach classified gut bacteria into 5 bacterial phyla, 8 families and 10 genera in major. The dominant bacterial taxa identified in Apis florea belonged to Prevotellaceae (52.1%), Enterobacteriaceae (42.7%) and Halobacteriaceae (1.3%). The dominant bacteria belonged to genera of Prevotella, Escherichia-Shigella, Natronomonas, Methylobacterium, Pantoea, Bifidobacterium, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Lactobacillus and Nitrobacter belonging to phyla Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Euryarchaeota, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. Many of these bacteria identified herewith are not reported for their occurrence in others species of Apis genus making this study of highly relevance with respect to bee microbiome.

The red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea F.) faces the threat of extirpation in Northwest India

Pollination is one of the essential ecosystem services. In recent years, a severe global pollinator decline has been the prime concern of pollination scientists and agriculturalists. The red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea F.) is an important pollinator of the semi-arid to tropical environments of several parts of Asia and Africa. The actual status of the colony numbers and foraging populations of this honey bee are not known. In this article, I examined the status of these parameters of this honey bee in Northwest India. I conducted monthly surveys and counted the total number of colonies of the red dwarf honey bee present at the main campus of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar (India) (in about 9 km2) from 1984 to 2011 at an interval of three years. I also counted the number of foraging honey bees on two crops, viz. a winter-flowering crop, Raya (Brassica juncea Czern and Coss), and a summer-flowering crop, Carrot (Daucus carota L). In 27 years, the number of colonies of this honey bee in the study area declined from 221.5�14.1 in 1984 to 53.4�6.6 in 2011. The foraging populations of this honey bee too declined from 31.2�0.3 bees/m2 to 9.2�0.2 bees/m2 on Carrot and from 25�0.3 bees/m2 to 3.3�0.2 bees/ m2 on Raya. This honey bee exhibited a significant decline in its colony number every 6 years. Foraging bees declined significantly every three years. The colony and forager surveys revealed that the red dwarf honey bee (Apis florea F.) seemed to face the threat of extirpation (local extinction) in Northwest India. This decline in the colony numbers and the foraging populations seemed to have caused a pollination crisis in this region. The decline in the colony numbers and the foraging populations seemed to be caused by the poisoning of foraging bees due to the excessive and indiscriminate use of insecticides on the Cotton and/or Rice crops that come in blooms during the floral dearth period of this region. Considered the importance of this honey bee in the pollination of crops, we suggested that this honey bee must be vigorously protected and conserved.

Genome-wide survey of odorant-binding proteins in the dwarf honey bee Apis florea

Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) in insects bind to volatile chemical cue and help in their binding to odorant receptors. The odor coding hypothesis states that OBPs may bind with specificity to certain volatiles and aid the insect in various behaviours. Honeybees are eusocial insects with complex behaviour that requires olfactory inputs. Here, we have identified and annotated odorant binding proteins from the genome of the dwarf honey bee, Apis florea using an exhaustive homology-based bioinformatic pipeline and analyzed the evolutionary relationships between the OBP subfamilies. Our study suggests that Minus-C subfamily may have diverged from the Classic subfamily of odorant binding proteins in insects.

TYPES AND ACTIVITIES OF DAILY INSECT POLINATORS IN ORDER GARDEN AND GARDEN FRUIT LIWA

Pollinator insects are insects that play a role in pollinating plants. This research was conducted in December-January 2020 at the Liwa Botanical Garden which aims to determine the types and daily activities of pollinator insects in the Liwa Botanical Garden Ornamental and Fruit Parks. The research used observation methods in 2 locations, namely Ornamental Gardens and Fruit Gardens. Pollinator insect sampling using a sweap net. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively. The results found that including pollinator insects in the Ornamental Park were 11 species and 165 individuals, namely (Junonia orithya, Hypolimnas bolina bolina, Neptis clinioides gunongensis, Oriens gola, Euploea mulciber, Elymnias panthera, Apis cerana, Apis florea, Xilocopa confuse, Lucilia sericerata, Coccinella septempuncata), in the Fruit Garden there were 6 species and 276 individuals, namely (Bactrocera dorsalis, Eurema blanda, Zizina otis, Ypthima baldus newboldi, Apis cerana, and Apis florea). Observation of Junonia orithya's daily activities starts in the morning at 08: 00-11: 00 WIB. Flying activities are initiated by the butterfly around the flower plant then perching on the leaves to sunbathe, suck nectar, suck minerals, suck nectar repeatedly, and look for a partner to carry out mating activities. Observation of daily afternoon activities was carried out at 14: 00-16: 00 WIB Junonia orithya was seen carrying out her activities such as in the morning. When the brightness starts to decrease for example due to rain, the butterflies will rest and take shelter under the leaves or bush environment.