Detection of novel probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus spp. in the workers of Indian honeybee, Apis cerana indica

Many insects are known to have microorganisms in the gut which can play an important role in their nutrition. In the present study, we report the presence of probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus spp. in the gut of the honeybee sub species Apis cerana indica collected from different parts of Karnataka, India which play a very significant role in the general health maintenance of the host. Total bacterial genomic DNA was extracted from the midguts of the worker honeybee sub species Apis cerana indica, collected from different parts of Karnataka and amplified using PCR, with 16S rRNA primers. The amplified PCR products were purified and sequenced directly. This partial, 16S rDNA sequences from Apis cerana indica revealed the presence of novel bacterial flora composed of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), which originated in the honey stomach of the Indian honeybee (Genbank accession number: EU392167) which has a putative health-conferring properties of probiotics. © 2010.