Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Jiang, Lin

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies and Biopsychology

Abstract

Glyphosate (GLY) is among the world’s most commonly used herbicides in agriculture and weed control. In the past decade, research has come forth suggesting that agrochemical use could have unintended consequences for non-target organisms, such as the honey bee (Apis mellifera), earth’s most prominent insect pollinator. The present study tested whether oral exposure to a environmentally realistic concentration (7.12 mg/L) of GLY affects the regulation of honey bee metabolites in a laboratory setting. I performed an experiment in which honey bees were fed sugar solution containing GLY over the course of ten days, with a control group receiving pure sucrose solution. At days 2, 5, and 10, bees were euthanized and their hemolymph was collected for 1H NMR analysis. I found that several metabolites, mainly belonging to the essential amino acid group, were notably downregulated in bees treated with GLY on days 2 and 10. The results of this study demonstrate that sublethal concentrations of GLY have an adverse effect on the regulation of essential metabolites related to honey bee development and fitness.

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