Bacillus subtilis ISOLATED FROM CUTICLES OF ANTS NESTING IN HIVES AS ANTIFUNGAL AGAINST FUNGAL PATHOGENS OF BEES

Abstract

The presence of ants in apiaries has long been considered a problem for beekeeping. The health
of the hives is a key issue in beekeeping since honey bees are affected by viruses, bacteria, fungi
and parasites. Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium are mycotoxigenic fungi, which are widely
distributed throughout the world. The presence of these fungi has been observed in both the digestive

tract of bees and honey. One of the most studied bacteria as antagonists is Bacillus. The objective of
the study was to determine the antifungal activity of Bacillus subtilis against Aspergillus section nigri
and Fusarium solani. The isolation was carried out in nutritive agar of B. subtilis from cuticles of ants
from apiaries of the temperate valleys of the province of Jujuy, Argentina. The fungal strains were
obtained from the strain collection of the Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology and Beekeeping/
Stingless beekeeping Health of the Faculty of Agrarian Sciences, UNJu. The antagonism tests were
performed on plates with potato dextrose agar medium with explants of the fungi against Bacillus
subtilis incubated at 28 ° C for one week. Colony diameters were recorded, and the percentage of
growth inhibition was determined at 5, 10 and 15 days. The inhibition percentages were higher after
5 days of incubation. The inhibition percentage was greater than 50% in Aspergillus section nigri
and greater than 65% in Fusarium solani. Bacillus subtilis showed antifungal activity against the
pathogenic fungi of bees under study.