Diverse Sublethal Effects of a Common Fungicide Impact the Behavior and Physiology of Honey Bees

文献类型： 外文期刊

第一作者： Zhang, Xufeng

作者： Zhang, Xufeng;Guo, Yuan;Cao, Qian;Wang, Feng;Du, Yinyin;Zhao, Wen;Rueppell, Olav

作者机构：

关键词： carbendazim; compound fungicide; gut microbiome; memory; metabolome; propiconazole; risk assessment; sublethal effects

期刊名称：INSECTS （ 影响因子：2.9； 五年影响因子：3.3 ）

ISSN：

年卷期： 2025 年 16 卷 6 期

页码：

收录情况： SCI

摘要： Simple Summary: Pollinators like honey bees are vital for healthy ecosystems and successful crop production, but their health is under threat from various factors, including overused agricultural chemicals. This study focused on understanding how a commonly used fungicide mixture called Chunmanchun (R), sprayed during the flowering of pear trees in China, affects honey bees. While the chemical did not cause immediate death when bees consumed it in small amounts, we found several sublethal effects on bee health. Bees exposed to Chunmanchun (R) had a 25% reduction in memory, which could affect their ability to find food and return to the hive. The chemical also disrupted important protective enzymes and changed the balance of bacteria in their digestive systems, reducing helpful bacteria and increasing potentially harmful ones. These changes also affected the bees' metabolism, which may further impact their health. This research highlights that even when pesticides do not cause immediate death, they can still harm bees in subtle but important ways. These findings indicate the need for a more careful evaluation of how agricultural chemicals affect pollinators, especially compounds that are used when pollinators are most active. Only with more comprehensive testing can bee populations be protected to maintain healthy ecosystems and food supplies. Honey bees and other pollinators are key to functioning natural and managed ecosystems. However, their health is threatened by many factors, including pesticides. Spraying fungicides during flowering of fruit trees is widespread even though it directly exposes pollinators to these fungicides. Here, we report a series of experiments designed to understand how the combination of propiconazole and carbendazim, marketed in China as Chunmanchun (R), affects honey bee health. With an acute oral toxicity of 23.8 mu g a.i./bee over 24 h in the laboratory, we considered the acute mortality risk from normal Chunmanchun (R) applications as relatively low. However, our comprehensive studies revealed other diverse effects: Chunmanchun (R) reduced memory after classic conditioning by approximately 25% and altered the activity of protective enzymes and the composition of the honey bees' gut microbiota. Specifically, the genus Lactobacillus was decreased by similar to 13%, and Bartonella and Snodgrassella were increased by similar to 10% and similar to 7.5%, respectively. The gut metabolome was also disrupted in diverse ways, possibly as a functional consequence of the microbiome changes. Thus, we demonstrated numerous sublethal effects of the combination of propiconazole and carbendazim, which adds to the growing evidence that agrochemicals and fungicides in particular can harm pollinator health in subtle ways that are not captured in simple mortality assays.

分类号：

  • 相关文献
作者其他论文 更多>>

微信小程序