Meeting Abstract
Agrochemicals and their widespread use are among the suspected reasons for pollinator decline. Some evidence suggests that pesticides are reducing reproductive fitness among bees. Few studies have investigated the contraceptive effects of agrochemicals on spermatozoa. Of special concern is whether agrochemicals impact drone sperm quality, in terms of genotoxicity, having direct or indirect effects on the DNA. Even the slightest changes in spermatozoa can have large impacts on colony health making spermatozoa a reliable biomarker for xenobiotics in the environment. The readily available spermatozoa make them an accessible way to measure the reproductive impacts of agrochemicals found in gathered resources (i.e. pollen and nectar). It is unclear how these stored contaminated resources might affect nest mates, such as drones, who don’t actively forage for these resources. Furthermore, how these contaminated resources affect nest mates through all stages of development. To investigate this, we use terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase (TDT)- mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay as a measure of genotoxicity for spermatozoa. Honey bee spermatozoa were exposed to the agrochemicals Imidacloprid, Thiamethoxam, Clothianidin and Glyphosate. Preliminary results suggest this is an accurate and reliable assay to measure any DNA damage agrochemicals have on spermatozoa. Thus, the purpose of this study is to assess the reproductive impacts agrochemicals have on drones, through direct exposure to agrochemicals and indirect exposure using spermatozoa as a biomarker for these agrochemicals and the effect they have on pollinator decline.
