Biophysical characterization of the Varroa destructor NaV1 sodium channel and its affinity for τ-fluvalinate insecticide.

Pascal Gosselin-Badaroudine, Mohamed Chahine

FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2017 Jul

filter terms:

The decline of the western honeybee (Apis mellifera) has been reported to be due to parasitism by Varroa destructor mites and to colony collapse disorder in which these mites may be involved. In-hive chemicals such as τ-fluvalinate are being used to control Vdestructor populations. This approach may lead to the chronic exposure of bees to this liposoluble chemical, which tends to accumulate in hives. We cloned a variant of the V. destructor voltage-dependent sodium (VdNaV1) channel and studied its biophysical characteristics and sensitivity to τ-fluvalinate using the Xenopus oocyte expression system and the 2-microelectrode voltage-clamp technique. We compared the affinity of VdNaV1 for τ-fluvalinate with the honeybee voltage-dependent sodium ortholog. Our results showed that the honeybee sodium channel is more sensitive to τ-fluvalinate than the V. destructor channel, suggesting that care must be taken when treating hives with this chemical.-Gosselin-Badaroudine, P., Chahine, M. Biophysical characterization of the Varroa destructor NaV1 sodium channel and its affinity for τ-fluvalinate insecticide. © FASEB.

Citation

Pascal Gosselin-Badaroudine, Mohamed Chahine. Biophysical characterization of the Varroa destructor NaV1 sodium channel and its affinity for τ-fluvalinate insecticide. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. 2017 Jul;31(7):3066-3071