Evaluation of the effects of imidacloprid, on the nervous system of africanized Apis mellifera, through the expression of Fos protein

Abstract

The insecticides act in living organisms altering physiological and/or biochemical processes. Among several pesticides mechanisms of action, as the inhibition of insect's growth or the blockade of cellular respiration, the neurotoxicity is one of the most studied ones due to its high efficiency. Imidacloprid acts as a neurotoxin which interferes in nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of insects. In honeybees Apis mellifera it was verified, through the proboscis extension reflex (PER) method, that sublethal doses of imidacloprid cause deficiency in olfactory learning and impair memory. The Fos protein, expressed in neurons, has been used to evaluate alterations caused for chemical substances in central nervous system. Its transcription may be altered by several stimuli as stress, lesions, toxin or predator exposition and cellular differentiation. So, it is believed that brains of bees treated with imidacloprid exhibit an increase in expression of Fos protein. This work aims to get information about changes of neuronal activity in africanized bees Apis mellifera caused by neurotoxin imidacloprid.Keywords: Apis mellifera, imidacloprid, nervous system, Fos protein