Characterization of Paenibacillus larvae isolates from Brazil [Brezilya'dan Paenibacillus larvae izolatlari{dotless}ni{dotless}n karakterizasyonu]

Paenibacillus larvae is the agent of american foulbrood disease (afb),causing the death of the hive and greatly affecting beekeeping. in brazil,this bacterium was only isolated in the states of rio grande do sul and paraná. the present study aimed to characterize the strains isolated in brazil,confirming its identification by molecular diagnosis. eighty isolates from samples of honey,honeycomb and pollen collected between 2002 and 2007 from different regions were selected for analysis. phenotypical characterization indicates that 77 strains were p. larvae but 3 strains showed inconclusive results. pcr protocols based on detection of 16s rdna and metalloproteinase gene confirmed all strains being p. larvae. the pcr amplicon of 16s rdna was sequenced,and phylogenetic analysis was performed. the results indicated that there is high homology among the strains isolated in brazil.