Method and System for Protecting Honey Bees, Bats and Butterflies from Neonicotinoid Pesticides

• US 20170151293A1
• Filed: 12/15/2016
• Published: 06/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seed Health, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Joseph E. Kovarik
• Inventors: Kovarik, Joseph E.
• Granted Patent: US 10,086,024 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/74 Bacteria therapeutic use of a bacterial protein A61K38/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/741 Probiotics probiotic yeast, e.g. saccharomyces A61K36/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/742 Spore-forming bacteria, e.g. Bacillus coagulans, Bacillus subtilis, clostridium or Lactobacillus sporogenes
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/745 Bifidobacteria
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/747 Lactobacilli, e.g. L. acidophilus or L. brevis
• CPC Class Codes: A61K 35/748 Cyanobacteria, i.e. blue-green bacteria or blue-green algae, e.g. spirulina algae, microalgae or microphytes A61K36/02
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 1/20 Bacteria; Culture media therefor

Abstract

A method and system for the treatment of honey bees (Apis mellifera), bats, and butterflies protects them from various life threatening conditions, including Colony Collapse Disorder, white nose syndrome, etc. and in particular, provides honey bees, bats and butterflies with the ability to assimilate and degrade neonicotinoids.

Claims

1. A method for providing a pollinator with the ability to assimilate neonicotinoid pesticides, comprising, providing to a pollinator a modified bacteria of a species normally found in the gut microbiome of the pollinator, said modified bacteria being adapted to degrade a neonicotinoid pesticide, wherein the modified bacteria have genes involved in the degradation of neonicotinoid pesticides.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the pollinator is a honey bee and the species normally found in the gut microbiome of the honeybee is a species of bacteria selected from the group of Gilfiamella apicola, Snodgrassella alvi, Lactobacillus spp, Frischella, Bifidobacterium genera, and Bifidobacterium spp.

4. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the modified bacteria in the gut of is Snodgrassella alvi.

5. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the modified bacteria in the gut of the honeybees is one of a Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species.

6. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the modified bacteria in the gut of honeybees is Gilliamella apicola.

7. The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the modified bacteria are incorporated into the gut microbiota of at least worker bees or nurse bees in a manner so that a honeybee colony can then acquire the ability to assimilate or degrade neonicotinoids that they are exposed to.

8. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the pollinator is a honeybee and the modified bacteria is from a species normally found in the gut microbiome of the honeybee selected from the group consisting of Lactobacillus paracasei ssp., Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactococcus lactis, Bifidobacterium animalis, Lactobacillus thermophilus, and Bacillus clausii;

Lactobacillus plantarum Lactobacillus plantarum;

Leuconostoc citreum; and

ochrobactrum intermedium.

9. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the pollinator is a butterfly and the species normally found in the gut microbiome of the butterfly is a species of bacteria selected from the group of Acetobacteraceae, Moraxellaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcaceae, Streptococcaceae, Commensalibacter intestini and Commensalibacter papalotli.

10. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the pollinator is a bat and the modified bacteria are introduced into a bat colony environment in a manner such that the bacteria are incorporated into the gut and/or skin microbiota of at least some bats, which can then infect other bats with such bacteria, and in so doing, the colony of bats acquires the ability to assimilate or degrade neonicotinoids that it is exposed to.

11. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the modified bacteria are selected from the group consisting of:

Gamma-, Alpha-, and Delta-proteobacteria, Tenericutes, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, Cyanobacteria;

Proteobacteria;

Gamma proteobacteria;

Enterobacteriales;

Pasteurella;

Delta proteobacteria;

Desulfurellales, Syntrophobacterales, Myxococcales;

Rhodospirillales, Rhodobacterales, Rhizobiales, Rickettsiales;

Firmicutes;

Clostridia;

Bacilli; and

Cyanobacteria.

12. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the modified bacteria are provided to bats in a fashion such that they can reside in one of the gut or the skin of the bats.

13. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the modified bacteria are selected from the group consisting of:

Gamma-, Alpha-, and Delta-proteobacteria, Tenericutes, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes, Cyanobacteria;

Proteobacteria;

Gamma proteobacteria;

Enterobacteriales;

Pasteurella;

Delta proteobacteria;

Desulfurellales, Syntrophobacterales, Myxococcales;

Rhodospirillales, Rhodobacterales, Rhizobiales, Rickettsiales;

Firmicutes;

Clostridia;

Bacilli; and

Cyanobacteria and wherein an inoculation of the bats is achieved with a culture of neonicotinoid degrading bacteria selected form the group consisting of ochrobactrum intermedium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens S33, Apergillus oryzae, Pseudomonas putida S16;

Arthrobacter nicotinovarans, microsporum gypseum, pellicularia filamentosa JTS-208, pseudomonas sp. 41;

Microsporum gypseum;

Pseudomonas ZUTSKD;

aspergillus oryzae 112822; and

ochrobactrum intermedium DN2.

14. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the modified bacteria are modified using a CRISPR-Cas system.

15. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the neonicotinoid is selected from the group consisting of acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, nitenpyram, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam.

20. The method as set forth in claim 1, further comprising providing to the pollinator a modified bacteria being one of Lactobacillus johnsonii and Bacillus subtilis, wherein said Lactobacillus johnsonii and Bacillus subtilis are adapted to degrade a neonicotinoid pesticide.

3. A method for providing a pollinator with the ability to assimilate neonicotinoid pesticides, comprising employing host-mediated microbiome selection whereby a microbial community is selected and modified indirectly through a host pollinator to positively affect the fitness of the pollinator, said selected host mediated microbiome being one of the skin and the gut microbiome and the modification of said microbiome comprising providing to the pollinator one of bacteria and bacterial genes that have the ability to degrade neonicotinoids.

16. A method for providing a pollinator with the ability to assimilate neonicotinoid pesticides, comprising, inoculating a pollinator with a culture of neonicotinoid degrading bacteria, wherein the pollinator is a honeybee and wherein the neonicotinoid degrading bacteria is selected from the group consisting of ochrobactrum intermedium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Apergillus oryzae, Pseudomonas putida;

Arthrobacter nicotinovarans, microsporum gypseum, pellicularia filamentosa; and

Microsporum gypseum.

17. The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the neonicotinoid degrading bacteria is of the genus ochrobactrum, in the alpha-2 subgroup of the domain Proteobacteria.

18. The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the modified bacteria are modified using a CRISPR-Cas system.

19. The method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the neonicotinoid is selected from the group consisting of acetamiprid, clothianidin, dinotefuran, nitenpyram, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam.