| Species/Subspecies: | Melissococcus plutonius | ||||||||
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| Etymology: | Genus name: The coccus of the bee. Species epithet: named after the god Pluto in Roman mythology. | ||||||||
| Significance: | The disease occurs almost world wide, but is rarely reported from Sweden. [Of minor importance] |
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| Alternative Species Name(s): | Melissococcus pluton | ||||||||
| Taxonomy: | Class Bacilli Order Lactobacillales Family Enterococcaceae Genus Melissococcus |
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| Type Strain: | ATCC 35311 | ||||||||
| Macromorphology (smell):
| It produces small, white, shiny and well-defined colonies | ||||||||
| Micromorphology:
| Non-motile cocci in pairs or chains. | ||||||||
| Gram +/Gram -: | G+ | ||||||||
| Metabolism: | Anaerobic | ||||||||
| Catalase/Oxidase: | -/? | ||||||||
| Biochemical Tests: | Citrate - | ||||||||
| Fermentation of carbohydrates: | D-glucose + lactose ? maltose v L-rhamnose ? sucrose v L-arabinose ? cellobiose ? D-mannitol ? salicin v trehalose ? glycerol ? inulin ? raffinose ? D-sorbitol ? starch ? |
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| Spec. Char.: | Optimal growth temperature: 35°C. | ||||||||
| Special Media:
| Cultivated under anaerobic conditions on basal medium agar. | ||||||||
| Disease: | European Foulbrood of honeybees. |
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| Hosts: | Honey bee (Apis mellifera) | ||||||||
| Clinical Picture: | The bacteria attacks the young larvae in the open cells. You will find 3-4 days old larvae moved from the cells, as well as dead, limp and brown larvae. | ||||||||
| Genome Sequence: |
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| 16S rRNA Seq.: |
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| Taxonomy/phylogeny:
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Only one species (M. plutonius) has been described in genus Melissococcus and this genus is closely related genus Enterococcus. Thus, these genera are affiliated to the order Lactobacillales. | ||||||||
| Legislation: | The disease is not covered by the bee disease law in Sweden. | ||||||||
| Comment: | The disease is not as serious as American foulbrood (see Paenibacillus larvae). | ||||||||
| Reference(s): | No. 84, 97 | ||||||||
| Link: | En översyn av lagstiftningen om bisjukdomar. | ||||||||
| Updated: | 2023-03-08 |
