Glyphosate alters the transcriptome of the head of africanized apis mellifera honeybees
The transcriptomic profiles of the head of glyphosate-fed Africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera) were assessed to determine which genes are affected by the toxicity of the herbicide glyphosate. For this purpose, 180 bees (previously marked) were collected when they were 21 days old from their respective hives, subjected to three hours of fasting, and then provided with food containing lethal dose or sublethal dose or no glyphosate. After one and four hours of feeding, 12 bees were collected from each treatment group for transcriptomic analysis. The results showed that one hour of exposure to the lethal and sublethal doses of glyphosate altered the expression of genes mainly related to the functioning of the nervous system. After four hours of exposure, in addition to changes in the expression of genes related to the nervous system, it also showed changes in genes of the immune system. In conclusion, glyphosate exposure affects the gene expression profiles of forager bees, which may interfere with the effectiveness of the defense system of bees. Moreover, the impaired nervous system pathways may lead to cognitive dysfunction and, consequently, disruption of colony activities.