Location: Invasive Species and Pollinator Health
Project Number: 2030-30500-001-005-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Feb 1, 2026
End Date: Jan 31, 2030
Objective:
Honey bees are essential agricultural pollinators, and they are threatened by record declines that are closely linked to viral pathogens. The proposed work employs state-ofthe-art approaches to identify safe and effective antiviral treatments from fungi, one of the richest and most diverse sources of bioactive natural products. Fungi have an impressive record for yielding therapeutic leads for human health. Here, we intend to direct them towards improving honey bee populations for agricultural use. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop effective and sustainable treatments for the beekeeping industry that will improve bee health and food security.
Approach:
To achieve othe goal, ARS will pursue the following three supporting objectives:
i) Conduct high-throughput bioassays to screen diverse fungal cultures for antiviral activity and potential toxicity.
ii) Evaluate promising extracts and fractions for their relative safety and antiviral activities in laboratory bioassays and honey bee field colonies.
iii) Chemically characterize treatments and isolate specific fungal compounds responsible for antiviral activities in bees.