Effects of tefluthrin and guadipyr on the midgut bacteria of adult Apis mellifera.

The objective of this study is to assess the potential impact of tefluthrin and guadipyr on the gut microbial composition and metabolism in adult Apis mellifera ligustica, thereby elucidating the underlying mechanisms of insecticide action and its practical implications for bee protection. In this investigation, A. mellifera were subjected to one of three dietary conditions: (1) control sugar water, (2) tefluthrin-infused sugar water, or (3) guadipyr-infused sugar water.

Combined pesticides in field doses weaken honey bee (Apis cerana F.) flight ability and analyses of transcriptomics and metabolomics.

Imidacloprid, chlorpyrifos, and glyphosate rank among the most extensively employed pesticides worldwide. The effects of these pesticides and their combined on the flight capability of Apis cerana, and the potential underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. To investigate these effects, we carried out flight mill, transcriptome, and metabolome experiments.

Impact of chronic exposure to field level glyphosate on the food consumption, survival, gene expression, gut microbiota, and metabolomic profiles of honeybees.

Glyphosate (GLY) is among the most widely used pesticides in the world. However, there are a lot of unknowns about chronic exposure to GLY's effects on Honeybee (HB) behavior and physiology. To address this, we carried out five experiments to study the impact of chronic exposure to 5 mg/kg GLY on sugar consumption, survival, gene expression, gut microbiota, and metabolites of HB workers.

Examining parent-of-origin effects on transcription and RNA methylation in mediating aggressive behavior in honey bees (Apis mellifera).

Conflict between genes inherited from the mother (matrigenes) and the father (patrigenes) is predicted to arise during social interactions among offspring if these genes are not evenly distributed among offspring genotypes. This intragenomic conflict drives parent-specific transcription patterns in offspring resulting from parent-specific epigenetic modifications. Previous tests of the kinship theory of intragenomic conflict in honey bees (Apis mellifera) provided evidence in support of theoretical predictions for variation in worker reproduction, which is associated with extreme variation in morphology and behavior.

Genomic signatures underlying the oogenesis of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor on its new host Apis mellifera.

Introduction: Host shift of parasites may have devastating effects on the novel hosts. One remarkable example is that of the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor, which has shifted its host from Eastern honey bees (Apis cerana) to Western honey bees (Apis mellifera) and posed a global threat to apiculture.

Objectives: To identify the genetic factors underlying the reproduction of host-shifted V.

Pesticide residues in beebread and honey in Apis cerana cerana and their hazards to honey bees and human.

The residue of pesticides in bee products such as beebread and honey threaten the survival of pollinators and human health. Apis cerana cerana is one of the leading managed honey bees in China. However, little is known about the residues of pesticides in hive products of A.

Assessing the toxicological interaction effects of imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and chlorpyrifos on Bombus terrestris based on the combination index.

In modern agricultural production, a variety of pesticides are widely used to protect crops against pests. However, extensive residues of these pesticides in the soil, water, and pollen have negatively affected the health of nontarget organisms, especially among pollinators such as bumblebees. As an important pollinator, the bumblebee plays a vital role in agricultural production and the maintenance of ecosystem diversity.

The Life Span and Levels of Oxidative Stress in Foragers Between Feral and Managed Honey Bee Colonies.

Molecular damage caused by oxidative stress may lead to organismal aging and result in acute mortality to organisms. Thus, oxidative stress resistance and longevity are closely linked. Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the most important managed pollinator in agriculture, but the long-term survival of honey bees is seriously threatened.

Differential state-dependent effects of deltamethrin and tefluthrin on sodium channels in central neurons of Helicoverpa armigera.

The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera is one of the worldwide pests. Electrophysiological properties of voltage-gated sodium channels in central neurons of sensitive and pyrethroid resistant H. armigera were investigated using whole-cell patch clamp technique.

Pesticide residues in the pollen and nectar of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.) and their potential risks to honey bees.

Research evidence suggests that pesticide residues are one of the leading potential causes of the decline in pollinators, especially during vulnerable periods such as foraging in the early springtime. In China, no research quantifies pesticide residues in the nectar and pollen of honey bee colonies during this period or examines the potential risks and toxicity of pesticides to honey bees. Oilseed rape is one of the first and primary bee-attractive plants in most parts of China.

Transcriptomic and Epigenomic Dynamics of Honey Bees in Response to Lethal Viral Infection.

Honey bees ( L.) suffer from many brood pathogens, including viruses. Despite considerable research, the molecular responses and dynamics of honey bee pupae to viral pathogens remain poorly understood.

Impact of acute oral exposure to thiamethoxam on the homing, flight, learning acquisition and short-term retention of Apis cerana.

Background: Thiamethoxam (TMX) represents the second generation of neonicotinoids that has been widely applied in agricultural activities, while how TMX alters the behavior of Apis cerana, an important native honey bee species in China, is not clear. We carried out three independent experiments to study the impact of acute oral treatment of 20 μL TMX at concentrations of 2.4 ppb (0.

Key Transport and Ammonia Recycling Genes Involved in Aphid Symbiosis Respond to Host-Plant Specialization.

Microbes are known to influence insect-plant interactions; however, it is unclear if host-plant diet influences the regulation of nutritional insect symbioses. The pea aphid, , requires its nutritional endosymbiont, , for the production of essential amino acids. We hypothesize that key aphid genes that regulate the nutritional symbioses respond to host-plant diet when aphids feed on a specialized (alfalfa) compared to a universal host-plant diet (fava), which vary in amino acid profiles.

Plant Defense Inhibitors Affect the Structures of Midgut Cells in Drosophila melanogaster and Callosobruchus maculatus.

Plants produce proteins such as protease inhibitors and lectins as defenses against herbivorous insects and pathogens. However, no systematic studies have explored the structural responses in the midguts of insects when challenged with plant defensive proteins and lectins across different species. In this study, we fed two kinds of protease inhibitors and lectins to the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and alpha-amylase inhibitors and lectins to the cowpea bruchid Callosobruchus maculatus.

Migratory management and environmental conditions affect lifespan and oxidative stress in honey bees.

Most pollination in large-scale agriculture is dependent on managed colonies of a single species, the honey bee Apis mellifera. More than 1 million hives are transported to California each year just to pollinate the almonds, and bees are trucked across the country for various cropping systems. Concerns have been raised about whether such "migratory management" causes bees undue stress; however to date there have been no longer-term studies rigorously addressing whether migratory management is detrimental to bee health.

Honey bee (Apis mellifera) drones survive oxidative stress due to increased tolerance instead of avoidance or repair of oxidative damage.

Oxidative stress can lead to premature aging symptoms and cause acute mortality at higher doses in a range of organisms. Oxidative stress resistance and longevity are mechanistically and phenotypically linked; considerable variation in oxidative stress resistance exists among and within species and typically covaries with life expectancy. However, it is unclear whether stress-resistant, long-lived individuals avoid, repair, or tolerate molecular damage to survive longer than others.

Socially responsive effects of brain oxidative metabolism on aggression.

Despite ongoing high energetic demands, brains do not always use glucose and oxygen in a ratio that produces maximal ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. In some cases glucose consumption exceeds oxygen use despite adequate oxygen availability, a phenomenon known as aerobic glycolysis. Although metabolic plasticity seems essential for normal cognition, studying its functional significance has been challenging because few experimental systems link brain metabolic patterns to distinct behavioral states.

Transcriptomic response of cowpea bruchids to N-acetylglucosamine-specific lectins.

Griffonia simplicifolia lectin II (GSII) and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) are N-acetylglucosamine-binding lectins. Previous studies demonstrated that they have anti-insect activity, a property potentially useful in pest control. To gain some insight into the insect response to dietary lectins, we performed transcriptomic analysis using the cowpea bruchid (Callosobruchus maculatus) midgut microarray platform we built.

RNA interference knockdown of DNA methyl-transferase 3 affects gene alternative splicing in the honey bee.

Studies of DNA methylation from fungi, plants, and animals indicate that gene body methylation is ancient and highly conserved in eukaryotic genomes, but its role has not been clearly defined. It has been postulated that regulation of alternative splicing of transcripts was an original function of DNA methylation, but a direct experimental test of the effect of methylation on alternative slicing at the whole genome level has never been performed. To do this, we developed a unique method to administer RNA interference (RNAi) in a high-throughput and noninvasive manner and then used it to knock down the expression of DNA methyl-transferase 3 (dnmt3), which is required for de novo DNA methylation.

Genome-wide analysis of genes associated with moderate and high DDT resistance in Drosophila melanogaster.

Background: Moderate to high DDT resistance in generally associated with overexpression of multiple genes and therefore has been considered to be polygenic. However, very little information is available about the molecular mechanisms that insect populations employ when evolving increased levels of resistance. The presence of common regulatory motifs among resistance-associated genes may help to explain how and why certain suites of genes are preferentially represented in genomic-scale analyses.

TrueSight: a new algorithm for splice junction detection using RNA-seq.

RNA-seq has proven to be a powerful technique for transcriptome profiling based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. However, due to the short length of NGS reads, it is challenging to accurately map RNA-seq reads to splice junctions (SJs), which is a critically important step in the analysis of alternative splicing (AS) and isoform construction. In this article, we describe a new method, called TrueSight, which for the first time combines RNA-seq read mapping quality and coding potential of genomic sequences into a unified model.