title: Characterization of the honeybee AmNaV1 channel and tools to assess the toxicity of insecticides.
abstract: Pollination is important for both agriculture and biodiversity. For a significant number of plants, this process is highly, and sometimes exclusively, dependent on the pollination activity of honeybees. The large numbers of honeybee colony losses reported in recent years have been attributed to colony collapse disorder. Various hypotheses, including pesticide overuse, have been suggested to explain the disorder. Using the Xenopus oocytes expression system and two microelectrode voltage-clamp, we report the functional expression and the molecular, biophysical, and pharmacological characterization of the western honeybee's sodium channel (Apis Mellifera NaV1). The NaV1 channel is the primary target for pyrethroid insecticides in insect pests. We further report that the honeybee's channel is also sensitive to permethrin and fenvalerate, respectively type I and type II pyrethroid insecticides. Molecular docking of these insecticides revealed a binding site that is similar to sites previously identified in other insects. We describe in vitro and in silico tools that can be used to test chemical compounds. Our findings could be used to assess the risks that current and next generation pesticides pose to honeybee populations.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Quebec City, QC, G1J 2G3 Canada.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gosselin-Badaroudine
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Quebec City, QC, G1J 2G3 Canada.
authors.forename: Adrien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moreau
authors.affiliation: Institute of Computational Molecular Science, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Delemotte
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche de Biochimie Macromoléculaire (CRBM), CNRS UMR 5237, 1919 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cens
authors.affiliation: INRA UR 406, Abeilles et Environnement, Domaine Saint Paul - Site Agroparc, CS40509, 84914 Avignon Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Collet
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche de Biochimie Macromoléculaire (CRBM), CNRS UMR 5237, 1919 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Matthieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rousset
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche de Biochimie Macromoléculaire (CRBM), CNRS UMR 5237, 1919 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Charnet
authors.affiliation: Institute of Computational Molecular Science, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122 USA.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: 1] Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec, Quebec City, QC, G1J 2G3 Canada [2] Department of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, G1K 7P4 Canada.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chahine
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000378:metabolism*; D001665:Binding Sites; D007306:Insecticides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects*; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels