Immunosuppression in Honeybee Queens by the Neonicotinoids Thiacloprid and Clothianidin

Brandt, Annely; Grikscheit, Katharina; Siede, Reinhold; Grosse, Robert; Meixner, Marina D.; Büchler, Ralph

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04734-1

Cited by 63 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…She can also be influenced by different environmental stressors during development, either through exposure to biotic or abiotic stressors in the colony environment or specifically via the quality or quantity of royal jelly she receives [29][30][31][32][33]. After maturation, a queen may face different stresses during her nuptial flights [33][34][35] and after the onset of oviposition inside her colony [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. Environmental stresses can cause negative consequences for the developing queens such as substantial reduction in survival, and reduce queen emergence [29,31].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honey Bee Queens and Virus Infections

Amiri

Strand

Rueppell

2020

Viruses

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The honey bee queen is the central hub of a colony to produce eggs and release pheromones to maintain social cohesion. Among many environmental stresses, viruses are a major concern to compromise the queen’s health and reproductive vigor. Viruses have evolved numerous strategies to infect queens either via vertical transmission from the queens’ parents or horizontally through the worker and drones with which she is in contact during development, while mating, and in the reproductive period in the colony. Over 30 viruses have been discovered from honey bees but only few studies exist on the pathogenicity and direct impact of viruses on the queen’s phenotype. An apparent lack of virus symptoms and practical problems are partly to blame for the lack of studies, and we hope to stimulate new research and methodological approaches. To illustrate the problems, we describe a study on sublethal effects of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) that led to inconclusive results. We conclude by discussing the most crucial methodological considerations and novel approaches for studying the interactions between honey bee viruses and their interactions with queen health.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Honey Bee Queens and Virus Infections

Amiri

Strand

Rueppell

2020

Viruses

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“…Neonicotinoids target nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) which they bind to and thus excite; this can result in paralysis, convulsions and death (Matsuda et al, 2001). Controlled exposure experiments using honeybees and bumblebees have shown that exposure at comparable concentrations to those found in nectar and pollen can have sublethal effects on learning and memory (Siviter, Koricheva, Brown, & Leadbeater, 2018;Stanley, Smith, & Raine, 2015), cognition and problem solving (Baracchi, Marples, Jenkins, Leitch, & Chittka, 2017;Samuelson, Chen-Wishart, Gill, & Leadbeater, 2016;Williamson & Wright, 2013), motor function (Drummond, Williamson, Fitchett, Wright, & Judge, 2016;Williamson, Willis, & Wright, 2014), foraging performance (Gill & Raine, 2014;Henry et al, 2012;Stanley, Russell, Morrison, Rogers, & Raine, 2016), navigation abilities (Fischer et al, 2014) and the immune system (Brandt, Gorenflo, Siede, Meixner, & Büchler, 2016;Brandt et al, 2017;Di Prisco et al, 2013). Despite the growing interest in the link between neonicotinoid exposure and toxicity to bees, we know little about the molecules and genes through which neonicotinoid action is mediated, or whether neonicotinoids may also affect "off-target" processes that are not mediated by nAChRs.…”

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confidence: 99%

Caste‐ and pesticide‐specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on gene expression in bumblebees

et al. 2019

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Social bees are important insect pollinators of wildflowers and agricultural crops, making their reported declines a global concern. A major factor implicated in these declines is the widespread use of neonicotinoid pesticides. Indeed, recent research has demonstrated that exposure to low doses of these neurotoxic pesticides impairs bee behaviours important for colony function and survival. However, our understanding of the molecular‐genetic pathways that lead to such effects is limited, as is our knowledge of how effects may differ between colony members. To understand what genes and pathways are affected by exposure of bumblebee workers and queens to neonicotinoid pesticides, we implemented a transcriptome‐wide gene expression study. We chronically exposed Bombus terrestris colonies to either clothianidin or imidacloprid at field‐realistic concentrations while controlling for factors including colony social environment and worker age. We reveal that genes involved in important biological processes including mitochondrial function are differentially expressed in response to neonicotinoid exposure. Additionally, clothianidin exposure had stronger effects on gene expression amplitude and alternative splicing than imidacloprid. Finally, exposure affected workers more strongly than queens. Our work demonstrates how RNA‐Seq transcriptome profiling can provide detailed novel insight on the mechanisms mediating pesticide toxicity to a key insect pollinator.

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“…In honeybees and bumblebees, sublethal neonicotinoid exposure at concentrations comparable to those found in nectar and pollen affects the immune system negatively, resulting in a reduction of hemocyte density, encapsulation response, and antimicrobial activity [9,10,198,199]. Similar to vertebrates, exposure to neonicotinoids also induces oxidative stress by alteration in retinoid metabolism [200].…”

Section: Pollutants: Pesticidesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pollutants and Their Interaction with Diseases of Social Hymenoptera

Feldhaar

Otti

2020

Insects

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Many insect species, including social insects, are currently declining in abundance and diversity. Pollutants such as pesticides, heavy metals, or airborne fine particulate matter from agricultural and industrial sources are among the factors driving this decline. While these pollutants can have direct detrimental effects, they can also result in negative interactive effects when social insects are simultaneously exposed to multiple stressors. For example, sublethal effects of pollutants can increase the disease susceptibility of social insects, and thereby jeopardize their survival. Here we review how pesticides, heavy metals, or airborne fine particulate matter interact with social insect physiology and especially the insects’ immune system. We then give an overview of the current knowledge of the interactive effects of these pollutants with pathogens or parasites. While the effects of pesticide exposure on social insects and their interactions with pathogens have been relatively well studied, the effects of other pollutants, such as heavy metals in soil or fine particulate matter from combustion, vehicular transport, agriculture, and coal mining are still largely unknown. We therefore provide an overview of urgently needed knowledge in order to mitigate the decline of social insects.

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Immunosuppression in Honeybee Queens by the Neonicotinoids Thiacloprid and Clothianidin

Cited by 63 publications

References 70 publications

Honey Bee Queens and Virus Infections

Honey Bee Queens and Virus Infections

Caste‐ and pesticide‐specific effects of neonicotinoid pesticide exposure on gene expression in bumblebees

Pollutants and Their Interaction with Diseases of Social Hymenoptera

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