Fuente: PubMed "honey" J Biol Phys. 2026 Jul 7;52(1):26. doi: 10.1007/s10867-026-09720-1.ABSTRACTThe microsporidian parasites Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae cause nosemosis in honey bees, and spore surface charge is expected to influence adhesion and colloidal stability. However, zeta-potential (ζ) data for Nosema spores are absent from the literature. Here we report the first electrophoretic light-scattering measurements of ζ for N. ceranae spores under standardized conditions (10 mM KCl, pH 7.0, 25 °C). Spores were purified by differential centrifugation and analyzed in ten technical replicates. The mean ζ was -45.2 ± 1.8 mV (coefficient of variation 4.0%). The intensity-weighted distribution was unimodal with a peak at -42.5 mV, and autocorrelation functions indicated good data quality. The pH-dependence curve yielded a point of zero charge at pH 4.8, with a steep negative shift above pH 5, implying that surface carboxyl and phosphate groups dominate the charge. At the pH of the honey-bee midgut (6.0-6.5), ζ is estimated as -20 to -30 mV, which may permit moderate aggregation and influence infection efficiency. The high repeatability (σ = ± 1.8 mV) validates electrophoretic light scattering for future screening of anti-nosemal agents.PMID:42412258 | PMC:PMC13341987 | DOI:10.1007/s10867-026-09720-1