No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptome
Natural acids such as oxalic, formic or lactic acids are used as alternative treatments against Varroa destructor, the parasitic mite of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Lactic acid has recently been shown to impair mites’ grip skills through local action after exposure of adult honey bees. However, lit...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-09-01
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| Series: | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651325011522 |
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| author | Caroline Vilarem Vincent Piou Lucie Bouly Frédéric Julien Rachel Fourdin Nathalie Vialaneix Matthias Zytnicki Angélique Vétillard |
| author_facet | Caroline Vilarem Vincent Piou Lucie Bouly Frédéric Julien Rachel Fourdin Nathalie Vialaneix Matthias Zytnicki Angélique Vétillard |
| author_sort | Caroline Vilarem |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Natural acids such as oxalic, formic or lactic acids are used as alternative treatments against Varroa destructor, the parasitic mite of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Lactic acid has recently been shown to impair mites’ grip skills through local action after exposure of adult honey bees. However, little is known about the lethal and sublethal effects of lactic acid on honey bees. In this work, we investigated the effects of chronic oral exposure to lactic acid through a contaminated diet on age-controlled worker bees. We monitored survival under artificial conditions, quantified lactate levels in various worker organs (the digestive tract, the thorax, the fat body, the head and the haemolymph) and analysed the transcriptome of the workers’ heads. Our results indicate that consuming lactic acid at residual concentration (1.5 mg/mL) did not impact the survival. No lactate accumulation was detected in any of the honey bee organs analysed. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis on the bees’ heads revealed no differences in gene expression. While further research on sublethal effects is still needed, this work provides one of the first reports on the off-target effects of lactic acid on honey bee health. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d01c0d5f01bf4daf849e2f29a79f2060 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0147-6513 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety |
| spelling | doaj-art-d01c0d5f01bf4daf849e2f29a79f20602025-08-20T03:40:45ZengElsevierEcotoxicology and Environmental Safety0147-65132025-09-0130311880710.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118807No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptomeCaroline Vilarem0Vincent Piou1Lucie Bouly2Frédéric Julien3Rachel Fourdin4Nathalie Vialaneix5Matthias Zytnicki6Angélique Vétillard7Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, UMR5300, CNRS-Université de Toulouse III-IRD, Toulouse INP, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31077, France; M2i Biocontrol, Parnac 46140, France; Corresponding authors at: Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, UMR5300, CNRS-Université de Toulouse III-IRD, Toulouse INP, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31077, France.Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, UMR5300, CNRS-Université de Toulouse III-IRD, Toulouse INP, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31077, FranceCentre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, UMR5300, CNRS-Université de Toulouse III-IRD, Toulouse INP, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31077, FranceCentre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, UMR5300, CNRS-Université de Toulouse III-IRD, Toulouse INP, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31077, FranceINRAE GeT-PlaGe, Castanet-Tolosan 31320, FranceUniversité de Toulouse, INRAE, UR MIAT, Castanet-Tolosan, France; Université de Toulouse, INRAE, BioinfOmics, GenoToul Bioinformatics Facility, Castanet-Tolosan, FranceUniversité de Toulouse, INRAE, UR MIAT, Castanet-Tolosan, France; Université de Toulouse, INRAE, BioinfOmics, GenoToul Bioinformatics Facility, Castanet-Tolosan, FranceCentre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, UMR5300, CNRS-Université de Toulouse III-IRD, Toulouse INP, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31077, France; Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM), Unité Métabiot, Ploufragan 22440, France; Corresponding authors at: Centre de Recherche sur la Biodiversité et l’Environnement, UMR5300, CNRS-Université de Toulouse III-IRD, Toulouse INP, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse 31077, France.Natural acids such as oxalic, formic or lactic acids are used as alternative treatments against Varroa destructor, the parasitic mite of honey bees (Apis mellifera). Lactic acid has recently been shown to impair mites’ grip skills through local action after exposure of adult honey bees. However, little is known about the lethal and sublethal effects of lactic acid on honey bees. In this work, we investigated the effects of chronic oral exposure to lactic acid through a contaminated diet on age-controlled worker bees. We monitored survival under artificial conditions, quantified lactate levels in various worker organs (the digestive tract, the thorax, the fat body, the head and the haemolymph) and analysed the transcriptome of the workers’ heads. Our results indicate that consuming lactic acid at residual concentration (1.5 mg/mL) did not impact the survival. No lactate accumulation was detected in any of the honey bee organs analysed. Furthermore, transcriptomic analysis on the bees’ heads revealed no differences in gene expression. While further research on sublethal effects is still needed, this work provides one of the first reports on the off-target effects of lactic acid on honey bee health.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651325011522Sublethal effectRNA seqOrganic acidsSurvivalApis melliferaTreatment |
| spellingShingle | Caroline Vilarem Vincent Piou Lucie Bouly Frédéric Julien Rachel Fourdin Nathalie Vialaneix Matthias Zytnicki Angélique Vétillard No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptome Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety Sublethal effect RNA seq Organic acids Survival Apis mellifera Treatment |
| title | No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptome |
| title_full | No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptome |
| title_fullStr | No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptome |
| title_full_unstemmed | No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptome |
| title_short | No detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health: Insights from survival, lactate accumulation and head transcriptome |
| title_sort | no detectable impact of chronic oral lactic acid exposure on honey bee health insights from survival lactate accumulation and head transcriptome |
| topic | Sublethal effect RNA seq Organic acids Survival Apis mellifera Treatment |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651325011522 |
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