This $300,000 project grant awarded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program aims to develop bacterial probiotics to improve the health and pollination performance of managed bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) and wild bumble bee species. The key objectives are: 1) Identify gut bacteria that promote resistance to the common bumble bee parasite Crithidia bombi; 2) Discover bacteria that enhance pollination-relevant aspects of bumble bee performance like cognition, lifespan, and reproduction; and 3) Build a culture collection of promising probiotic bacterial strains. This work will take place at the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) from May 2024 through April 2026, leveraging the university's expertise in bumble bee biology, microbiology, and agriculture. The goal is to develop naturally derived probiotics that can support the health and pollination services provided by managed and wild bumble bees, which are vital pollinators for U.S. agriculture.
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