BACKGROUND & AIMS:
:Acaricides are used by beekeepers in honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) colonies to control parasitic mites, but may also have adverse effects to honey bees. In this study, five commonly used acaricides were tested for their sublethal effects on memory and expression of neural-related genes in honey bees. Memory measured with the proboscis extension reflex (PER) assay was significantly reduced by topical treatment of bees with a single LD05 dose of formic acid at 2 and 24 h post treatment (hpt). However, tau-fluvalinate, amitraz, coumaphos, and formic acid, but not thymol, resulted in memory loss at 48 hpt. The LD05 doses of the acraricides did not affect expression of neuroligin-1, related to memory, or expression of major royal jelly protein-1, related to both memory and development, although expression of both genes was affected at LD50 doses. The LD05 doses of thymol, formic acid, amitraz and coumaphos increased defensin-1 expression, which is related to both memory and immunity. The effect of thymol, however, may have been due to its impact on the immune response rather than memory. This study demonstrates that acaricides vary in their effects on bee's memory, and that the widely used acaricide, formic acid, is particularly damaging.
背景与目标:
: 杀螨剂被蜜蜂 (Apis mellifera L.) 菌落中的养蜂人用来控制寄生螨,但也可能对蜜蜂产生不利影响。在这项研究中,测试了五种常用的杀螨剂对蜜蜂的记忆和神经相关基因表达的亚致死作用。通过在治疗后2和24小时 (hpt) 用单次LD05剂量的甲酸局部治疗蜜蜂,用长鼻延伸反射 (PER) 测定法测得的记忆显着降低。然而,在48 hpt时,tau-氟缬氨酸,amitraz,香豆素和甲酸 (而不是百里香酚) 会导致记忆力减退。LD05剂量的杀菌剂不影响与记忆有关的neuroligin-1的表达,也不影响与记忆和发育有关的主要蜂王浆蛋白1的表达,尽管这两个基因的表达在LD50剂量下均受到影响。LD05剂量的百里香酚,甲酸,阿米特拉兹和库玛磷增加了defensin-1的表达,这与记忆和免疫有关。但是,百里香酚的作用可能是由于其对免疫反应而不是记忆的影响。这项研究表明,杀螨剂对蜜蜂记忆的影响各不相同,并且广泛使用的杀螨剂甲酸尤其具有破坏性。