Strain- and genotype-specific differences in virulence of Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae, a bacterial pathogen causing American foulbrood disease in honeybees.

Virulence variations of Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae, the causative agent of American foulbrood disease of honeybees, were investigated by analysis of 16 field isolates of this pathogen, belonging to three previously characterized genotypes, as well as the type strain (ATCC 9545) of P. larvae subsp. larvae, with exposure bioassays. We demonstrated that the strain-specific 50% lethal concentrations varied within an order of magnitude and that differences in amount of time for the pathogen to kill 100% of the infected hosts (LT100) correlated with genotype. One genotype killed rather quickly, with a mean LT100 of 7.8 +/- 1.7 days postinfection, while the other genotypes acted more slowly, with mean LT100s of 11.2 +/- 0.8 and 11.6 +/- 0.6 days postinfection.