Artículos Científicos

URI permanente para esta colecciónhttp://10.0.96.45:4000/handle/11056/17242

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Mostrando 1 - 8 de 8

An insight into the antibiofilm properties of Costa Rican stingless bee honeys
(Journal of Wound Care, 2017-04-05) Zamora, Luis; Beukelman, Kees; van den Berg, Arjen; Aerts, P.C.; Quarles van Ufford, H.C.; Nijland, R.; Arias, M.L.
Our objective is to examine the the antibiofilm properties of stingless bee honeys. Meliponini honeys from Costa Rica were examined along with Medihoney as a reference. All honeys were submitted to a screening composed of minimum inhibitory concentration, inhibition of biofilm formation and biofilm destruction microplate-based assays against a Staphylococcus aureus biofilm forming strain. Dialysis led to the isolation of an antibiofilm fraction in Tetragonisca angustula honeys. The honey antibiofilm fraction was evaluated for protease activity and for any synergistic effect with antibiotics on a Staphylococcus aureus biofilm. The active fraction was then separated through activity guided isolation techniques involving SDS-PAGEs, anion exchange and size exclusion fast protein liquid chromatographies. The fractions obtained and the isolated antibiofilm constituents were tested for amylase and DNase activity. About the results, a total of 57 Meliponini honeys from Costa Rica were studied in this research. The honeys studied belonged to the Tetragonisca angustula (n=36) and Melipona beecheii (n=21) species. Costa Rican Tetragonisca angustula honeys can inhibit the planktonic growth, biofilm formation, and are capable of destroying a Staphylococcus aureus biofilm. The antibiofilm effect was observed in the protein fraction of Tetragonisca angustula honeys. The biofilm destruction proteins allowed ampicillin and vancomycin to recover their antimicrobial activity over a Staphylococcus aureus biofilm. The antibiofilm proteins are of bee origin, and their activity was not due to serine, cysteine or metalloproteases. There were 2 proteins causing the antibiofilm action; these were named the Tetragonisca angustula biofilm destruction factors (TABDFs). TABDF-1 is a monomeric protein of approximately 50kDa that is responsible of the amylase activity of Tetragonisca angustula honeys. TABDF-2 is a protein monomer of approximately 75kDa. In conclusion the Tetragonisca angustula honeys from Costa Rica are a promising candidate for research and development of novel wound dressings focused on the treatment of acute and chronic Staphylococcus aureus biofilm wound infections.
Asociación entre abejas sin aguijón (Apidae, Meliponini) y la flora del bosque seco en la región norte de Guanacaste, Costa Rica
(Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, 2019-01-01) Barquero-Elizondo, Ana Isabel; Aguilar-Monge, Ingrid; Méndez-Cartín, Ana Lucía; Hernández-Sánchez, Gustavo; Sánchez-Toruño, Henry; Montero-Flores, William; Herrera-González, Eduardo; Sánchez-Chaves, Luis Alejandro; Barrantes-Vásquez, Alejandra; Gutiérrez-Leitón, Milena; Mesén-Montano, Isaac; Bullé-Bueno, Francisco
Las abejas sin aguijón son importantes polinizadores en regiones tropicales y subtropicales; están asociadas a la flora que les proporciona alimento, sitios para anidamiento, resinas, savia y exudados. Se buscó determinar la asociación entre abejas y flora en el sector cerro El Hacha (bosque primario intervenido) y sector Pocosol (bosque secundario) del Parque Nacional Guanacaste, donde se inventariaron los nidos en 33 parcelas de 20 x 20 m². Se colectó polen de plantas dentro de las parcelas y alrededor de los nidos (radio de 500 m) y se recolectaron y analizaron cargas corbiculares de polen de abejas atrapadas con redes entomológicas en la entrada de los nidos. En el cerro El Hacha se colectó polen de tres nidos de Scaptotrigona pectoralis y en Pocosol se colectó polen de dos nidos de Trigona fulviventris. Se obtuvo una densidad de 4.43 nidos/ha-1, de las especies: Tetragonisca angustula, Tetragona ziegleri, Plebeia frontalis y Trigona fulviventris. Los nidos se encuentran en los troncos de árboles, con preferencia por el Quercus oleoides, donde se halló el 50 % de estos. Las plantas alimenticias utilizadas por S. pectoralis en el cerro El Hacha, fueron: Cupania guatemalensis (30 %), Byrsonima crassifolia (21 %) y Cedrela odorata (15 %). Mientras para T. fulviventris en el sector Pocosol las plantas más importantes fueron Baltimora recta (26 %), Dorstenia contrajerva (9 %) y Desmodium sp. (9 %). Es evidente el importante papel que cumple la especie arbórea Quercus oleoides para la conservación de las poblaciones de estos insectos.
Flora relevante para las abejas nativas sin aguijón en un sector del Parque Nacional Guanacaste
(Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, 2022) Barrantes-Vásquez, Alejandra; Sánchez Chaves, Luis; Chacón Cid, Natalia; Aguilar Monge, Ingrid; Herrera González, Eduardo; Méndez Cartín, Ana Lucia; Montero Flores, William; Barquero Elizondo, Ana Isabel; Hernández Sánchez, Luis Gustavo; Sánchez Toruño, Henry Mauricio
En esta obra se incluyen básicos descriptivos de las especies de plantas en flor, importantes para la nutrición y desarrollo se las poblaciones de abejas, presentes en las parcelas permanentes de monitoreo ubicadas en el sector Pocosol y El Hacha en la Area de Conservación Guanacaste, durante el periodo 2015-2016. Se incluyen aspectos de jerarquización taxonómica de las especies, su nombre vernáculo, una breve descripción botánica, el gremio ecológico de referencia, así como su distribución natural en Costa Rica, los diversos usos tradicionales y el aporte de néctar, polen y/o resina y el período de floración asociado a cada especie.
Learnt information in species-specific ‘trail pheromone’ communication in stingless bees
(Elsevier, 2013) Reichle, Christian; Aguilar Monge, Ingrid; Ayasse, Manfred; Twele, Robert; Francke, Wittko; Jarau, Stefan
Specificity in biological signalling systems is often important to keep information private. Foragers of several species of stingless bees deposit chemical marking signals to guide nestmates to food sources. The markings show species- and colony-specific compositions and primarily attract a bee’s nestmates. An interesting question is whether the bees innately recognize specific trail markings or learn their particular composition from nestmates. To investigate this question, we tested whether Scaptotrigona pectoralis and Scaptotrigona subobscuripennis workers taken from their mother colonies and workers that emerged from combs transferred to foster colonies of the congeneric species are attracted to the marking compounds of workers from their natal colony or from the foster colony. A significant majority of workers were attracted to extracts prepared from foragers of the nest they inhabited, regardless of whether this was the original mother or the congeneric foster colony. Thus, the preference of stingless bee workers for specific food-marking scent mixtures is not innate, but is influenced by the odour they experience within their colony. Despite marked differences in the chemical composition of the scent marks in labial gland secretions of the two investigated species they also shared some main components. We hypothesize that recruitment trail information in stingless bees is composed of one or a few key pheromone compounds acting in conjunction with an additional signature mixture that is species and colony specific and must be learnt by recruited workers.
Nest-specific composition of the trail pheromone of the stingless bee Trigona corvina within populations
(Springer, 2012) John, Lena; Aguilar, Ingrid; Ayasse, Manfredo; Jarau, Stefan
Social insects have evolved highly developed communication systems, enabling them to coordinate complex interactions in their colonies. Pheromones play a major role in the coordination of many tasks. In Trigona corvina, a stingless bee that occurs in Central America, foragers use pheromones produced in their labial glands to scent mark solid substrates between a food source and their nest. Newly recruited bees subsequently follow these scent marks until they reach the food source. A recent study has revealed nestspecific differences in the composition of these trail pheromones in colonies of T. corvina, suggesting that pheromone specificity may serve to avoid competition between foragers from different nests. However, the nests used in this study came from different populations and their foragers certainly never met in the field (Jarau et al., 2010). The aim of the present study was to investigate whether differences in the trail pheromones of foragers from different nests can also be found between neighbouring colonies within populations. We analysed the composition of trail pheromones from labial gland secretions extracted from workers from nine colonies collected at three different populations in Costa Rica. The differences in pheromone composition were even more distinct between neighbouring nests within a population than between nests of different populations. This finding corroborates the hypothesis that nest specificity of trail pheromones serves to communicate the location of a food source exclusively to nestmates, thereby avoiding intraspecific competition at resources. Resource partitioning by avoiding conspecific non-nestmates is particularly adaptive for aggressive bee species, such as T. corvina.
Physicochemical differentiation of stingless bee honeys from Costa Rica
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2021-04-06) Umaña, Eduardo; Zamora, Gabriel; Aguilar, Ingrid; Pérez-Salazar, Roy; Solórzano, Rebeca; Herrera, Eduardo; Arias, Maria Laura; Sanchez, Luis Angel
We characterized Tetragonisca angustula and Melipona beecheii honeys produced in Costa Rica according to their physical and chemical properties. Moreover, we found critical parameters that distinguish the honeys from each other. Forty-eight samples of honey of both stingless bee species were analyzed (T. angustula, n = 32; M. beecheii, n = 16). T. angustula honey is characterized by having significantly higher average values of proline (464.6 mg/kg), ash (0.481 g/100 g), diastase (17.5 Schade units/g), and free acidity (79.4 me/kg); while M. beecheii honey has significantly higher average values for fructose (32.7 g/100g), glucose (28.2- 30.2 g/100 g), water content (23.5 g/100 g), and invertase activity (65.7 U/kg). It was inferred from the results obtained that the honey produced by M. beecheii comes from nectars with a higher sugar concentration compared to the nectars used by T. angustula to produce their honey, which it was in good accordance to previous literature reports.
Polinización de tomate sembrado bajo condiciones controladas de invernadero utilizando la abeja sin aguijón Nannotrigona perilampoides en Guanancaste, Costa Rica
(Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, 2019-11-25) Méndez Vargas, Laura; Sánchez Chaves, Luis
El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la eficiencia de polinización de la especie Nannotrigona perilampoides (Hymenoptera: Meliponini), en un cultivo de tomate (Lycopersicon esculentum), sembrado bajo condiciones de invernadero en la provincia de Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Para llevar a cabo la investigación, se utilizó un invernadero el cual fue dividido en tres áreas o cajas de polinización, cada caja recibió un tratamiento diferente: Polinización con N. Perilampoides (NP), polinización manual (PM) y sin polinización (SP). Para evaluar estos tratamientos se realizaron registros una vez por semana durante Junio y Julio del 2013. Se determinó el efecto de la polinización sobre la producción final del cultivo, mediante la evaluación de la calidad y cantidad de frutos de los tres tratamientos. Los resultados muestran que no hay diferencias entre tratamientos en la cantidad de frutos, ni en el porcentaje de cuaje de los frutos del tomate cuando se realizó polinización con esta especie de abeja. Sin embargo, las variables relacionadas con la calidad del fruto como: peso, diámetro, número de semillas y número de lóculos del fruto del tomate mejoraron significativamente (p < 0.05) en presencia de la colmena de Nannotrigona perilampoides, lo cual es muy promisorio en términos productivos.
The antimicrobial activity and microbiological safety of stingless bee honeys from Costa Rica
(International Bee Research Association, 2014) Zamora Fallas, Gabriel; Beukelman, Kees; van den Berg, Bert; Arias Echandi, María Luisa; Umaña Rojas, Eduardo; Aguilar Monge, Ingrid; Sánchez Chávez, Luis Alejandro; Fallas Matamoros, Natalia; Quarles van Ufford, Linda; Gross, Norma
Stingless bee honeys from Costa Rica possess etnopharmacological value mainly as a wound dressing. The microbiological study by APHA methods reported that 83 % of the honeys analysed had microbial counts that comply with European Pharmacopoeia's acceptance criteria for microbiological quality of non-sterile substances for pharmaceutical use. All samples reported the absence of Clostridium botulinum spores by PCR. Over 90 % of Tetragonisca angustula and Melipona beecheii honeys inhibited Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus at minimum inhibitory concentrations lower than Medihoney™. Under the conditions tested, Medihoney™ was not active against Candida albicans, whereas 53% of T. angustula honeys rendered inhibition. The melissopalynological analyses reported a homogeneous (monofloral) botanical composition for the Meliponini honeys, which emphasizes the contribution of nectar constituents to the antimicrobial activity and provides foundation to the standardization of a desired inhibitory effect. The traditional use of Costa Rican stingless bee honey as a dressing for burns and wounds reveals the application of a proficient antiseptic agent with low health associated risks.

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Examinando Artículos Científicos por Materia "ABEJAS SIN AGUIJÓN"