Powdered Sugar Examination as a Tool for the Assessment of Infection Levels in Honey Bee Colonies.

American Foulbrood (AFB) is a contagious and severe brood disease of honey bees caused by the spore-forming bacterium . The identification of honey bee colonies infected by is crucial for the effective control of AFB. We studied the possibility of identifying the infection levels by in honey bee colonies through the examination of powdered sugar samples collected in the hives.

Combined Effects of Pesticides and Electromagnetic-Fields on Honeybees: Multi-Stress Exposure.

Honeybee and general pollinator decline is extensively reported in many countries, adding new concern to the general biodiversity loss. Many studies were addressed to assess the causes of pollinator decline, concluding that in most cases multi-stress effects were the most probable ones. In this research, the combined effects of two possible stress sources for bees, pesticides and electromagnetic fields (multi-stress conditions), were analyzed in the field.

Phenotypic characterization and ERIC-PCR based genotyping of Paenibacillus larvae isolates recovered from American foulbrood outbreaks in honey bees from Italy.

Background: Paenibacillus larvae is the etiological agent of American foulbrood (AFB), a widespread and severe bacterial brood disease of honey bees. The genomic characterization of P. larvae strains by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) is able to differentiate four genotypes (ERIC I, ERIC II, ERIC III, ERIC IV).

A new genotyping strategy for efficient scoring of closely positioned SNPs in the ovine prion protein gene.

Amino-acid polymorphisms of the ovine prion protein have been known to influence susceptibility to scrapie for many years. Recently, a role in both classical and atypical scrapie was assigned to new mutations, increasing the overall number of polymorphisms of interest for breeding plans. Besides, the high number and density of polymorphisms in the prion protein gene (PrP) and the presence of unusual mutations in some breeds hampers genotyping methods, making multiplexing difficult and sometimes compromising analytical results.

Prion protein genotypes of Italian sheep breeds with lysine-171 and phenylalanine-141 detection.

Amino acid polymorphisms of the prion protein gene influence sheep susceptibility to classical and atypical scrapie. Substitutions at codons 136, 154 and 171 play an important role in classical scrapie. Codon 141 leucine to phenylalanine mutation (AFRQ) has been recognized as an increased risk factor for atypical scrapie.