title: Molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis ofLactobacillusand Bifidobacterium spp. isolated from gut of honeybees (Apis mellifera) from West Azerbaijan, Iran.
abstract: Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and phylogenetic analysis were used for molecular identification of lactic acid bacteria (LABs) isolated fromApis mellifera. Eighteen honeybee workers were collected from three different apiaries in West Azerbaijan. LABs from the gut of honeybees were isolated and cultured using routine biochemical procedures. Genomic DNA was extracted from LABs and a fragment of 1540 bp in size of 16S rRNA gene was amplified. PCR products were digested usingHinfI endonuclease and digested products with different RFLP patterns were subjected to nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The results revealed thatLactobacillusandBifidobacteriaspp. are were the most abundant LABs in honeybee gut. Phylogenetic analysis showed that bothLactobacillusandBifidobacteriumwere closely clustered with high similarity percentage with the same bacteria isolated from honeybees' gut elsewhere. It was concluded that LABs isolated from honeybees had low sequence divergence in comparison with LABs isolated from other sources such as dairy products.
authors.affiliation: Private Veterinary Practitioner, Mahabad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Farouq
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Sharifpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Karim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mardani
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdulghaffar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ownagh
keywords: Apis mellifera; Honeybee; Lactic acid bacteria; Molecular identification; Phylogenetic analysis