title: Establishment of a bacterial infection model using the European honeybee, Apis mellifera L.
abstract: Injection of human pathogenic bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes) into the hemocoel of honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) workers kills the infected bees. The bee-killing effects of the pathogens were affected by temperature, and the LD₅₀ values at 37°C were more than 100-fold lower than those at 15°C. Gene-disrupted S. aureus mutants of virulence genes such as agrA, saeS, arlR, srtA, hla, and hlb had attenuated bee-killing ability. Nurse bees were less susceptible than foragers and drones to S. aureus infection. Injection of antibiotics clinically used for humans had therapeutic effects against S. aureus infections of bees, and the ED₅₀ values of these antibiotics were comparable with those determined in mammalian models. Moreover, the effectiveness of orally administered antibiotics was consistent between honeybees and mammals. These findings suggest that the honeybee could be a useful model for assessing the pathogenesis of human-infecting bacteria and the effectiveness of antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hamamoto
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sekimizu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000472:pathogenicity; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000472:pathogenicity; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000472:pathogenicity; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D013696:Temperature; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents