Insecticides are one of the many factors contributing to the decline of pollinator populations. Agricultural pests, such as aphids and Lepidoptera, have developed widespread resistance to a large number of compounds. However, research on insecticide resistance in pollinators is rather limited and has mainly focused on metabolic resistance. To address this knowledge gap, 4897 publicly available Apis mellifera whole genomes were screened for mutations in the exons of 17 insecticide target site genes and four housekeeping genes. These genomes originated from 54 countries and cover more than 20 A. mellifera subspecies and populations. A total of 5269 synonymous and 4465 non-synonymous mutations were identified. These mutations show differing geographical and functional patterns of diversity. While the majority of mutations were classified as rare or could not be directly linked to insecticide resistance, several candidate resistance variants were identified. Furthermore, mutations previously associated with local adaptation are described. This study provides a foundation for further research on insecticide resistance and local adaptation in pollinators.
Verbinnen et al. (Sat,) studied this question.