Insecticide-induced hormesis in insects

极低剂量的杀虫剂对昆虫有刺激作用。这种双相毒理学现象，即一种化学物质在高剂量时可能具有毒性，但在低剂量时具有刺激作用，被称为“激效”。我们之前的研究表明，将昆虫暴露于温和剂量的杀虫剂可以极大地刺激种群增长，并改变参与应激反应和发育的基因表达。然而，我们对杀虫剂致效效应对昆虫的生态和进化意义的认识仍然相对较差。研究计划的长期目标是了解昆虫的适应意义和潜在的实际应用。这将作为以下短期目标/问题的核心：******-杀虫剂诱导的激效是否“诱导”昆虫更好地应对它们以后可能遇到的额外压力，这种情况是否会代代相传？***-杀虫剂诱导的激效是否会导致突变率和解毒酶的增加，从而加速杀虫剂抗性的发展？***-暴露在低剂量的农药中，会像其他压力源一样刺激蜜蜂的繁殖或学习吗？***-暴露在低剂量的杀虫剂中，是否可以刺激生物防治剂（天敌）的多代繁殖，而不影响整体适应性？******不同的昆虫-杀虫剂模型将用于在实验室或温室环境中测试假设，测量分子，生化，个体和种群端点。所有的实验将涉及到本科生和研究生，或博士后研究员的培训。******提议的工作是原创的，准备在国际上产生很大的影响。很少有研究测试轻微的压力是否会使生物体在以后的生活中承受更大的压力，而且据我们所知，没有实验研究过几代人对这个问题的研究。尽管有充分的理由怀疑两者之间存在联系，但我们也不知道有什么实验检验了激效和农药抗性之间的联系。考虑到致效效应在害虫种群恢复和生态反弹中的可能作用，这一点很重要。虽然许多人已经研究了如何将激效效应应用于人类健康，但很少有人在其他生物体上进行探索。提出的生物防治试验是新颖的，可以为如何提高商业养殖设施中天敌的产量提供见解。我们对蜜蜂的实验是创新的，有可能对那些参与农药-传粉媒介辩论的人产生重大影响。许多杀虫剂对传粉媒介肯定是有毒的，但杀虫剂引起蜜蜂的激光反应的可能性一直被忽视。如果我们的预测成立，我们的结果可能是科学家、立法者和从事传粉媒介风险评估的公民的“毒理学觉醒”

Very low doses of insecticide can have stimulatory effects on insects. This biphasic toxicological phenomenon, whereby a chemical may be toxic at high doses but stimulatory at low doses is called `hormesis'. We previously showed that exposure of insects to mild doses of insecticide can greatly stimulate population growth and alter expression of genes involved in stress response and development. However, we still have a relatively poor understanding of the ecological and evolutionary significance of insecticide-induced hormesis for insects. The long-term goal of the research program is to understand the adaptive significance and potential practical applications of hormetic stress responses in insects. This will serve as a centerpiece for the following short-term objectives/questions:******- Does insecticide-induced hormesis "prime" insects to better cope with additional stressors they may later experience, and does this persist across generations? ***- Does insecticide-induced hormesis lead to increased mutation rates and detoxifying enzymes that accelerate development of insecticide resistance? ***- Can exposure to low doses of pesticide, as seen with other stressors, stimulate reproduction or learning in bees?***- Can exposure to low doses of insecticide stimulate reproduction in biocontrol agents (natural enemies) over multiple generations, without affecting overall fitness?******Different insect-insecticide models will be used to test hypotheses in laboratory or greenhouse settings, measuring molecular, biochemical, individual, and population endpoints. All experiments will involve training of undergraduate and graduate students, or post-doctoral fellows. ******The proposed work is original and poised to have high impact internationally. Few studies have tested if mild stress primes organisms for more stress later in life, and we know of no experiments that have studied the problem over multiple generations. We also are not aware of experiments examining the link between hormesis and pesticide resistance, despite there being good reasons to suspect a linkage exists. This is significant given the likely role of hormesis in pest population resurgences and ecological backlash. Though many have studied how to apply hormesis in human health, little effort has explored this with other organisms. The proposed experiments with biocontrol agents are novel and could provide insight on how to improve production of natural enemies in commercial rearing facilities. Our experiments with bees are innovative and have the potential to have high impact for those involved in the pesticide-pollinator debate. Many pesticides are certainly toxic to pollinators, but the possibility of pesticide-induced hormetic responses in bees has been overlooked. If our predictions hold, our results could be a "toxicological awakening" for scientists, legislators, and citizens engaged in pollinator risk assessment.**