Fuente: PubMed "honey" Neotrop Entomol. 2025 Nov 27;54(1):120. doi: 10.1007/s13744-025-01342-x.ABSTRACTTetragonisca angustula, a widely distributed Brazilian stingless bee, is commercially valuable for national meliponiculture. Despite their crucial role in bee health, honey quality, and nutrient metabolism, the gut microbiota of these bees remains poorly studied. This study aimed to isolate and identify gut bacteria from T. angustula workers and assess their enzymatic activities (amylase, cellulase, invertase, proteases). Bees were collected from nest entrances and interiors and dissected for microbial culture in appropriate media. In this study, we isolated and identified 21 bacterial strains from worker guts, belonging to Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria, including genera such as Paenibacillus, Bacillus, Pantoea, and Pseudomonas. Among them, only two isolates Alkalicoccobacillus sp. (TaP 03) and an unidentified strain (Tetra 2P) showed broad enzymatic activity, with Tetra 2P presenting the highest enzyme indexes for amylase (3.13), cellulase (2.56), and protease (2.56). Invertase activity was also widespread, detected in most isolates. Quantitatively, Tetra 2P showed higher amylase (125.1 ± 7.6 mgAR·min⁻1·mL⁻1) and invertase (135.7 ± 17.4 mgAR·min⁻1·mL⁻1) activity. From 16 isolates, 12 showed significant invertase activity. These results suggest that gut-associated bacteria of this stingless bee may contribute to nutrient metabolism and honey quality through sucrose fermentation and polysaccharide degradation. This is the first study to isolate and identify bacteria from the gut of T. angustula. These findings could provide insights and contribute to future research on microbial functions and their potential applications in meliponiculture.PMID:41310148 | DOI:10.1007/s13744-025-01342-x