Imidacloprid disrupts larval molting regulation and nutrient energy metabolism, causing developmental delay in honey bee Apis mellifera

• DOI: 10.7554/elife.88772.4
• Publication Date: 2024-03-11T15:20:44Z
• Authors: Zhi Li; Yuedi Wang; Qiqian Qin; Lanchun Chen; Xiaoqun Dang; Zhengang Ma; Zeyang Zhou
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; 0301 basic medicine; QH301-705.5; Science; Q; R; Pilot Projects; Nutrients; Bees; Molting; Nitro Compounds; Neonicotinoids; 03 medical and health sciences; Biochemistry and Chemical Biology; Larva; honey bee; Medicine; Animals; developmental retardation; Apis mellifera; Biology (General); Energy Metabolism; pesticide

Imidacloprid is a global health threat that severely poisons the economically and ecologically important honeybee pollinator, Apis mellifera . However, its effects on developing bee larvae remain largely unexplored. Our pilot study showed imidacloprid causes developmental delay in larvae, but underlying toxicological mechanisms incompletely understood. In this study, we exposed to at environmentally relevant concentrations of 0.7, 1.2, 3.1, 377 ppb. There was marked dose-dependent larval development, characterized by reductions body mass, width, growth index. did not affect survival food consumption. The primary induced elevated (377 ppb) included inhibition neural transmission gene expression, induction oxidative stress, gut structural damage, apoptosis, regulatory hormones genes, suppression expression levels involved proteolysis, amino acid transport, protein synthesis, carbohydrate catabolism, phosphorylation, glycolysis energy production. addition, found may use antioxidant defenses P450 detoxification mitigate imidacloprid. Ultimately, provides first evidence can development disrupting molting regulation limiting metabolism utilization dietary nutrients energy. These findings have broader implications for studies assessing pesticide hazards other juvenile animals.