Characterization of the Bacterial Communities Inhabiting Tropical Propolis of Puerto Rico.

Propolis is a resinous material produced by honeybees from different plant sources and used in the hive as a building material and to protect the colony from parasites and pathogens. Despite its antimicrobial properties, recent studies showed that propolis hosts diverse microbial strains, some with great antimicrobial potential. In this study, the first description of the bacterial community of propolis produced by the gentle Africanized honeybee was reported.

Bacteria associated with toxic clonal cultures of the dinoflagellate Ostreopsis lenticularis.

The marine toxic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis lenticularis has been implicated as the major vector in ciguatera seafood poisoning on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico. Studies have demonstrated that associated bacteria play a role in the ciguatoxin production and that different clonal cultures of O. lenticularis harbor different culturable bacteria.

Bacterial diversity associated with the Caribbean tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata.

The Caribbean tunicate, Ecteinascidia turbinata produces the anti-cancer agent ET-743 that could well be a metabolite of an associated bacterial strain. This current study aims at the analysis of bacteria that are persistently and specifically associated with this invertebrate. Utilizing techniques such as denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of bacteria from E.