Understanding insecticide detoxificiation in the leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Department Name: Biosciences
Abstract
Chemical insecticides have been used to control insect pests for many decades and remain essential to ensure a supply of affordable food and as part of disease vector control for the foreseeable future. A key requirement for the development of insecticides is that they are pest specific and not harmful to the main bee pollinator species which play an essential role in ensuring production of seeds in a remarkable range of flowering plants. Much of the research in this area has focussed on the honey bee (Apis mellifera) however, there is now increasing awareness of the importance of non-managed bee pollinators (such as solitary bees) in pollination services. This studentship aims to develop a detailed molecular and biochemical understanding of how insecticides interact with the solitary leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata. The project will characterise detoxification enzymes from M. rotundata and examine their role in defining insecticide selectivity in vitro and in vivo. Such understanding will allow the molecular basis of differential selectivity within different chemical classes of commercial insecticides to be elucidated and so facilitate the rational design of novel bee-safe compounds
People |
ORCID iD |
Christopher Bass (Primary Supervisor) |
Publications
Hayward A
(2019)
The leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata, is more sensitive to N-cyanoamidine neonicotinoid and butenolide insecticides than other managed bees.
in Nature ecology & evolution
Beadle K
(2019)
Genomic insights into neonicotinoid sensitivity in the solitary bee Osmia bicornis.
in PLoS genetics
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BB/P504774/1 | 01/10/2016 | 21/03/2022 | |||
1929566 | Studentship | BB/P504774/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2021 |
Description | Recent research has shown that several managed bee species have specific P450 enzymes that are preadapted to confer intrinsic tolerance to some insecticides including certain neonicotinoids. However, the universality of this finding across bee species is unclear. This research shows that the leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata, lacks such P450s, and is >2500-fold more sensitive to the neonicotinoid thiacloprid and 170-fold more sensitive to the butenolide flupyradifurone than other managed bee pollinators. |
Exploitation Route | These findings have significant implications for the safe use of insecticides in crops where M. rotundata is used for pollination, and ensuring regulatory pesticide risk assessment frameworks are protective of this species. Furthermore, as Megachile is one of the largest genera of bees (1,500 species worldwide), further research is required to establish if other wild species within this genus also lack P450s that provide protection against certain insecticides. |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |