- Elke Genersch: Institute for Bee Research, Friedrich-Engels-Str. 32, 16540 Hohen Neuendorf, Germany. elke.genersch@rz.hu-berlin.de
After more than a century of American Foulbrood (AFB) research, this fatal brood infection is still among the most deleterious bee diseases. Its etiological agent is the Gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. Huge progress has been made, especially in the last 20 years, in the understanding of the disease and of the underlying host-pathogen interactions. This review will place these recent developments in the study of American Foulbrood and of P. larvae into the general context of AFB research.