Published in

Taylor and Francis Group, Journal of Apicultural Research, 3(48), p. 168-175

DOI: 10.3896/ibra.1.48.3.04

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Application of Principal Component Analysis for evaluation of chemical and antimicrobial properties of honey bee (Apis mellifera) venom

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Red circle
Preprint: archiving forbidden
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The aim of this study was to employ Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to clarify the general distribution patterns or similarities of four major constituents (apamine, phospholipase A(2), mast cell degranulating peptide, and melittin) of bee venom collected from two honey bee strains in various months and years. The contents of these main bee venom components have been analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). In addition, the antimicrobial activity of the product was characterized by determination of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC). Using PCA it might be possible to find and describe the correlation between the constituents of bee venom and their antibacterial activity. This is probably the first study in which the composition and activity of bee venom has been compared applying such approach. It was shown that the strain of bee appears to be the only criteria for bee venom sample classification. Moreover, a strong correlation between phospholipase A(2) and melittin was confirmed. PCA analysis showed that there is a weak relationship between the analyzed honey bee venom constituents and MIC values. Minor components of bee venom therefore probably also significantly influence its antimicrobial activity.