Experimental study reveals combined glyphosate and heat exposure impairs development and endocrine balance in honey bee queen larvae, highlighting compounded risks to pollinator survival.
Key Points
To evaluate the individual and combined impacts of sublethal glyphosate exposure and 40 °C heat stress on the development, hormone regulation, and detoxification systems of Apis cerana cerana queen larvae.
Exposed Apis cerana cerana queen larvae to sublethal concentrations of glyphosate, 40 °C thermal stress, or a combination of both stressors.
Measured larval capping rates, adult emergence rates, eclosion rates, and physical metrics including total body weight and abdominal weight of newly emerged queens.
Quantified juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroid (Ecd) levels, glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzyme activity, and the relative expression of HSP83, NF-YC, and antioxidant- and detoxification-related genes.
Glyphosate exposure and 40 °C heat stress individually reduced larval capping, emergence, and eclosion rates while lowering both whole-body and abdominal weights of newly emerged queens.
Co-exposure substantially altered the expression of the heat-shock gene HSP83, the transcription factor NF-YC, and multiple detoxification- and antioxidant-related pathways, producing more pronounced developmental impairment than single-stressor exposure.