Shi Rongwei, Liu Fanglin
Institute of Technical Biology & Agriculture Engineering, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 350 Shushanhu Rd., Hefei, 230031, Anhui, China.
J Mol Model. 2016 Jun;22(6):140. doi: 10.1007/s00894-016-2993-1. Epub 2016 May 20.
The managed honeybee, Apis mellifera, has been experienced a puzzling event, termed as colony collapse disorder (CCD), in which worker bees abruptly disappear from their hives. Potential factors include parasites, pesticides, malnutrition, and environmental stresses. However, so far, no definitive relationship has been established between specific causal factors and CCD events. Here we theoretically test whether atmospheric environment could disturb the chemical communication between the queen and their workers in a colony. A quantum chemistry method has been used to investigate for the stability of the component of A. mellifera queen mandibular pheromone (QMP), (E)-9-keto-2-decenoic acid (9-ODA), against atmospheric water and free radicals. The results show that 9-ODA is less likely to react with water due to the high barrier heights (~36.5 kcal · mol(-1)) and very low reaction rates. However, it can easily react with triplet oxygen and hydroxyl radicals because of low or negative energy barriers. Thus, the atmospheric free radicals may disturb the chemical communication between the queen and their daughters in a colony. Our pilot study provides new insight for the cause of CCD, which has been reported throughout the world.
人工饲养的蜜蜂——西方蜜蜂（Apis mellifera）经历了一件令人困惑的事情，即蜂群崩溃失调（CCD），在这种情况下，工蜂会突然从蜂巢中消失。潜在因素包括寄生虫、杀虫剂、营养不良和环境压力。然而，到目前为止，在特定因果因素与蜂群崩溃失调事件之间尚未建立明确的关系。在此，我们从理论上测试大气环境是否会干扰蜂群中蜂王与其工蜂之间的化学通讯。我们采用量子化学方法研究了西方蜜蜂蜂王下颚腺信息素（QMP）的成分，即（E）-9-氧代-2-癸烯酸（9-ODA），对大气中的水和自由基的稳定性。结果表明，由于高势垒高度（约36.5千卡·摩尔-1）和极低的反应速率，9-ODA与水发生反应的可能性较小。然而，由于低或负的能垒，它很容易与三线态氧和羟基自由基发生反应。因此，大气中的自由基可能会干扰蜂群中蜂王与其雌性后代之间的化学通讯。我们的初步研究为全世界都有报道的蜂群崩溃失调的原因提供了新的见解。
