Publicação
Assessing pesticide impact on honeybee gut microbiota: a call for microbial diversity as an environmental risk assessment endpoint
| datacite.subject.fos | Ciências Naturais::Ciências da Terra e do Ambiente | |
| datacite.subject.fos | Ciências Agrárias::Biotecnologia Agrária e Alimentar | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 04:Educação de Qualidade | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 13:Ação Climática | |
| datacite.subject.sdg | 15:Proteger a Vida Terrestre | |
| dc.contributor.author | Rosa-Fontana, Annelise | |
| dc.contributor.author | Aguado, Daniel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Martín Hernández, Raquel | |
| dc.contributor.author | Higes, Mariano | |
| dc.contributor.author | Henriques, Dora | |
| dc.contributor.author | Pinto, M. Alice | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-02-11T16:30:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-02-11T16:30:50Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description.abstract | A recent roadmap for integrating environmental microbiota into risk assessments under the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) remit has been published. The honeybee gut microbiota has emerged as a promising avenue to protect bees against stressors. Honeybees exhibit a stable core microbiota, and dysbiosis may serve as an indicator of adverse conditions. We investigated the gut microbiota of newly emerged “Apis mellifera iberiensis” workers exposed to a single concentration of the insecticide flupyradifurone (FPF, 36 ppm). The control groups included pure syrup (negative control, NC) and syrup supplemented with 1% acetone (acetone control, AC). Laboratory trials followed official guidelines (OECD No. 245). The abdomen of each bee was separated from the thorax, and DNA extraction was performed individually. Full-length 16s rRNA amplicon metagenomic was sequenced through PacBio sequel II (HiFi/CCS mode). The Shannon diversity index was used to analyze honeybee gut microbiota composition across experimental groups. Our results revealed a significant increase in bacterial community diversity (Shannon index, P = 0.003) after ten days of chronic exposure to FPF. This effect was more pronounced when compared to the AC group (P = 0.003) than to the NC group (P = 0.03). These findings demonstrate that FPF disrupts the honeybee gut microbiota. This study represents the first characterization of honeybee gut microbiota strictly adhering to OECD guidelines without modifications or adaptations. Furthermore, we have provided new insights into pesticide risk assessment, highlighting an overlooked aspect of bee health assessment. We propose integrating this approach into pesticide risk assessments by using diversity indices as comparative parameters. Specifically, we advocate for the inclusion of honeybee gut microbiota dysbiosis as a sublethal effect in the initial screening phase of risk assessments (laboratory-based assays) and as a key parameter for evaluating pollinator health. | eng |
| dc.identifier.citation | Rosa-Fontana, Annelise; Aguado, Daniel; Martín Hernández, Raquel; Higes, Mariano; Henriques, Dora; Pinto, M. Alice (2025). Assessing pesticide impact on honeybee gut microbiota: a call for microbial diversity as an environmental risk assessment endpoint. Apimondia 2025. p. 107 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10198/35721 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.title | Assessing pesticide impact on honeybee gut microbiota: a call for microbial diversity as an environmental risk assessment endpoint | eng |
| dc.type | conference object | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.citation.conferenceDate | 2025 | |
| oaire.citation.conferencePlace | Copenhagen, Denmark | |
| oaire.citation.startPage | 107 | |
| oaire.citation.title | Apimondia 2025 | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 | |
| person.familyName | Henriques | |
| person.familyName | Pinto | |
| person.givenName | Dora | |
| person.givenName | M. Alice | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | 291F-986F-07DA | |
| person.identifier.ciencia-id | F814-A1D0-8318 | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0001-7530-682X | |
| person.identifier.orcid | 0000-0001-9663-8399 | |
| person.identifier.scopus-author-id | 55761737300 | |
| person.identifier.scopus-author-id | 8085507800 | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | d2abd09f-a90c-4cfb-9a60-7fc32f56184d | |
| relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 0667fe04-7078-483d-9198-56d167b19bc5 | |
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