Investigation of genotypic diversity of Paenibacillus larvae strains isolated from Iranian honey bee colonies.

American Foulbrood disease is a deadly bacterial disease of honey bee larvae in the world. The disease is caused by gram-positive and spores forming bacteria of Paenibacillus larvae that has significant economic losses. However, no study has been done on the diversity of this disease agent in Iran. In this study, 19 strains of Penibacillus larvae that were isolated from diseased and dead larvae and honey after confirmation by biochemical tests, PCR of 16S rRNA gene and sequencing, were used in ERIC-PCR technique to study genotypic diversity. The results enabled the identification of ERIC I and ERIC II genotypes for the first time in Iran.  14 strains of genotype II (73.7%) and 5 strains showed genotype I (26.3%).