| Species/Subspecies: | Paenibacillus larvae | ||||||||
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| Categories: | Causes hemolysis; spore forming; motile | ||||||||
| Etymology: | Genus name: Almost a Bacillus sp. Species epithet: from larvae. | ||||||||
| Significance: | American foulbrood is common in the United States, but also occurs in Sweden, Finland and other European countries. The disease can cause significant economic losses where it is prevalent. [Important] |
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| Alternative Species Name(s): | Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae och P. larvae subsp. pulvifaciens har nu sammanförts till en art. | ||||||||
| Taxonomy: | Class Bacilli Order Bacillales Family Paenibacillaceae Genus Paenibacillus |
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| Type Strain: | ATCC 9545 = CCUG 28515. | ||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell): | Produces mostly greyish-white colonies with diffuse edges. However, there are strains, which form orange pigmented colonies. Some of these (genotype ERIC 3) gives a clear hemolysis zone on blood agar. | ||||||||
| Micromorphology:
| Spore forming and motile rods (0.5-0.8 x 2.5-5.0 µm), which have peritrichous flagella. | ||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G+, but difficult to gram stain. | ||||||||
| Metabolism: | Facultatively anaerobic | ||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | (-)/? | ||||||||
| Other Enzymes: | Esculinase +, tryptophanase +, urease - | ||||||||
| Biochemical Tests: | Citrate -, has mixed acid fermentation (Voges-Proskauer +) | ||||||||
| Fermentation of carbohydrates: | D-glucose + lactose ? maltose ? L-rhamnose ? sucrose ? L-arabinose - cellobiose + D-mannitol - salicin + trehalose ? glycerol + inulin ? raffinose + D-sorbitol - starch ? |
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| Spec. Char.: | |||||||||
| Special Media: | |||||||||
| Disease: | American foulbrood of honeybees. |
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| Hosts: | Honeybee (Apis mellifera) | ||||||||
| Clinical Picture: | Abnormally high number of dead larvae (even in closed cells). Dead larvae produce a brown viscous residue in the cell, which can be pulled out with a match to a long thread. These residues contain large amounts of bacterial spores and can have a foal smell. | ||||||||
| Genome Sequence: |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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About 75 species and subspecies have been described within the genus Paenibacillus. Many of them were earlier regarded as members of the genus Bacillus. | ||||||||
| Legislation: | On suspicion of American foulbrood (AFB) in Sweden, a complaint is required to the bee inspector or the provincial government by Swedish law. AFB is included in OIE's A-list of major animal diseases. | ||||||||
| Comment: | Compare Melisococcus plutonius, which causes European foulbrood. | ||||||||
| Reference(s): | No. 97, 128, 137 | ||||||||
| Link: | Amerikansk yngelröta - biologi, diagnos och bekämpning | ||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-08 |