School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
Bayer AG, Monheim am Rhein, Germany.
PeerJ. 2024 Sep 13;12:e17978. doi: 10.7717/peerj.17978. eCollection 2024.
There is growing concern that some managed and wild insect pollinator populations are in decline, potentially threatening biodiversity and sustainable food production on a global scale. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that sub-lethal exposure to neurotoxic, neonicotinoid pesticides can negatively affect pollinator immunocompetence and could amplify the effects of diseases, likely contributing to pollinator declines. However, a direct pathway connecting neonicotinoids and immune functions remains elusive. In this study we show that haemocytes and non-neural tissues of the honeybee express the building blocks of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that are the target of neonicotinoids. In addition, we demonstrate that the haemocytes, which form the cellular arm of the innate immune system, actively express choline acetyltransferase, a key enzyme necessary to synthesize acetylcholine. In a last step, we show that the expression of this key enzyme is affected by field-realistic doses of clothianidin, a widely used neonicotinoid. These results support a potential mechanistic framework to explain the effects of sub-lethal doses of neonicotinoids on the immune function of pollinators.
人们越来越担心一些管理和野生昆虫传粉媒介种群正在减少，这可能威胁到全球范围内的生物多样性和可持续粮食生产。近年来，越来越多的证据表明，亚致死接触神经毒性新烟碱类农药会对传粉媒介的免疫能力产生负面影响，并可能放大疾病的影响，这可能是传粉媒介减少的原因之一。然而，将新烟碱类农药与免疫功能联系起来的直接途径仍然难以捉摸。在这项研究中，我们表明，蜜蜂的血淋巴细胞和非神经组织表达了新烟碱类农药的靶标烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体的组成部分。此外，我们还证明了血细胞，即先天免疫系统的细胞组成部分，积极表达胆碱乙酰转移酶，这是合成乙酰胆碱所必需的关键酶。最后，我们表明，这种关键酶的表达受到广泛使用的新烟碱类农药噻虫嗪的田间实际剂量的影响。这些结果支持了一个潜在的机制框架，以解释亚致死剂量的新烟碱类农药对传粉媒介免疫功能的影响。
