Assessment of Mitochondrial Function in the AmE-711 Honey Bee Cell Line: Boscalid and Pyraclostrobin Effects

There is a growing concern that chronic exposure to fungicides contributes to negative effects on honey bee development, life span, and behavior. Field and caged-bee studies have helped to characterize the adverse outcomes (AOs) of environmentally relevant exposures, but linking AOs to molecular/cellular mechanisms of toxicity would benefit from the use of readily controllable, simplified host platforms like cell lines. Our objective was to develop and optimize an in vitro-based mitochondrial toxicity assay suite using the honey bee as a model pollinator, and the electron transport chain (ETC) modulators boscalid and pyraclostrobin as model fungicides. We measured the effects of short (~30 min) and extended exposures (16-24 h) to boscalid and pyraclostrobin on AmE-711 honey bee cell viability and mitochondrial function. Short exposure to pyraclostrobin did not affect cell viability, but extended exposure reduced viability in a concentration-dependent manner (median lethal concentration = 4175 µg/L; ppb). Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was affected by pyraclostrobin in both short (median effect concentration [EC50] = 515 µg/L) and extended exposure (EC50 = 982 µg/L) scenarios. Short exposure to 10 and 1000 µg/L pyraclostrobin resulted in a rapid decrease in the oxygen consumption rate (OCR), approximately 24% reduction by 10 µg/L relative to the baseline OCR, and 64% by 1000 µg/L. Extended exposure to 1000 µg/L pyraclostrobin reduced all respiratory parameters (e.g., spare capacity, coupling efficiency), whereas 1- and 10-µg/L treatments had no significant effects. The viability of AmE-711 cells, as well as the MMP and cellular respiration were unaffected by short and extended exposures to boscalid. The present study demonstrates that the AmE-711-based assessment of viability, MMP, and ETC functionality can provide a time- and cost-effective platform for mitochondrial toxicity screening relevant to bees. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:976-987. © 2024 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.