title: Short communication: Lactic acid bacteria from the honeybee inhibit the in vitro growth of mastitis pathogens.
abstract: Despite the increasing knowledge of prevention and control strategies, bovine mastitis remains one of the most challenging diseases in the dairy industry. This study investigated the antimicrobial activity of 13 species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), previously isolated from the honey crop of the honeybee, on several mastitis pathogens. The viable LAB were first reintroduced into a sterilized heather honey matrix. More than 20 different bovine mastitis isolates were tested against the mixture of the 13 LAB species in the honey medium using a dual-culture overlay assay. The mastitis isolates were identified through bacteriological culturing, followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Additionally, the mastitis isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing through disk diffusion. Growth of all tested mastitis pathogens, including the ones displaying antimicrobial resistance to one or more antimicrobial compounds, were inhibited to some extent by the honey and LAB combination. The antibacterial effect of these LAB opens up new perspectives on alternative treatment and prevention of bovine mastitis.
authors.affiliation: M-team & Mastitis and Milk Quality Research Unit, Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: kristine.piccart@ugent.be.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Piccart
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine Lund, Section of Medical Microbiology, Lund University, Building 404, Medicon Village, SE-223 81 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vásquez
authors.affiliation: M-team & Mastitis and Milk Quality Research Unit, Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piepers
authors.affiliation: M-team & Mastitis and Milk Quality Research Unit, Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Vliegher
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine Lund, Section of Medical Microbiology, Lund University, Building 404, Medicon Village, SE-223 81 Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Olofsson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000898:Antibiosis; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001516:Bees / Q000382:microbiology*; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000502:physiology*; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D006722:Honey / Q000382:microbiology*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000502:physiology*; D008414:Mastitis, Bovine / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
keywords: bovine mastitis; honey; lactic acid bacteria