Understanding insecticide detoxification in the leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata

几十年来，化学杀虫剂一直被用来控制害虫，对于确保负担得起的食物供应和在可预见的未来作为病媒控制的一部分，化学杀虫剂仍然至关重要。开发杀虫剂的一个关键要求是，它们是害虫特有的，对主要的蜜蜂传粉者物种没有危害，这些物种在确保大量开花植物的种子生产方面发挥着至关重要的作用。这一领域的大部分研究都集中在蜜蜂(Apis Melvena)上，然而，现在人们越来越意识到非管理的蜜蜂传粉者(如孤蜂)在授粉服务中的重要性。这个项目的目的是对杀虫剂如何与单叶切叶蜂Megachile rotundata相互作用进行详细的分子和生物化学方面的了解。该项目将确定圆纹夜蛾的解毒酶的特征，并检查它们在确定体外和体内杀虫剂选择性方面的作用。这样的理解将有助于阐明不同化学类别的商业杀虫剂的不同选择性的分子基础，从而促进新型蜜蜂安全化合物的合理设计。

Chemical insecticides have been used to control insect pests for many decades and remain essential to ensure a supply of affordable food and as part of disease vector control for the foreseeable future. A key requirement for the development of insecticides is that they are pest specific and not harmful to the main bee pollinator species which play an essential role in ensuring production of seeds in a remarkable range of flowering plants. Much of the research in this area has focussed on the honey bee (Apis mellifera) however, there is now increasing awareness of the importance of non-managed bee pollinators (such as solitary bees) in pollination services. This studentship aims to develop a detailed molecular and biochemical understanding of how insecticides interact with the solitary leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata. The project will characterise detoxification enzymes from M. rotundata and examine their role in defining insecticide selectivity in vitro and in vivo. Such understanding will allow the molecular basis of differential selectivity within different chemical classes of commercial insecticides to be elucidated and so facilitate the rational design of novel bee-safe compounds.