Sublethal doses effects evaluation of Imidacloprido insecticide to the Brazilian bee Melipona scutellaris through the analisys of detoxification enzyme

• Grant number: 14/05758-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy
• Principal Investigator: Roberta Cornélio Ferreira Nocelli
• Grantee: Jéssica Freitas Araújo
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Agrárias (CCA). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Araras , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Pollinators are responsible for 90% of the tropical forests maintenance, by increasing productivity in fruit crops, vegetable crops and oil producer and affect 35% of world production of major food crops. In all existing pollinators 70% are bees. However, all this contribution is being affected by pesticides used in agriculture. Among them is the imidacloprid insecticide class of neonicotinoids, which acts as an agonist of acetylcholine, resulting in changes in olfactory learning and memory. In order to evaluate the effects caused by pesticide contamination on bees, the activity of enzymes: glutathione S-transferase (GST) and carboxylesterase responsible for the process of detoxification in the intestine and brain, respectively; and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) responsible for the control and modulation of nerve transmission will be used as biomarkers. Several studies indicate that Brazilian bees are more susceptible to insecticides than the Africanize Apis mellifera species. With this, the objective of this study is to evaluate the activity of enzymes associated with detoxification located in the intestine and brain on Melipona scutellaris bees, to verify their susceptibility to imidacloprid insecticide.