In situ and in ovo Toxicology: Better Anticipating Risks to Honey Bees

The document describes novel toxicological methods combining an in situ neuronal assay and an in ovo heterologous expression system to evaluate the effects of pyrethroid insecticides on honey bee ion channels. Neurons harvested from early-stage bees are maintained in culture and recorded with microelectrodes to assess channel activity under pesticide exposure. Parallel assays involve microinjecting bee sodium channel genes into Xenopus eggs, enabling extracellular recording of expressed channels. Results show similar functional properties and insecticide responses in both systems, suggesting that these in vitro approaches could replace live-animal tests and provide early, sublethal toxicity predictions.