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In silico evaluation of toxic effects of benalaxyl-m on bees

Year 2025, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 43 - 51, 04.05.2025
https://doi.org/10.59838/etoxec.1674950

Abstract

This study evaluated the acute toxic effects of Benalaxyl-M on honey bees (Apis mellifera) using BeeToxAI, a machine learning-based QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship) tool, through in silico methods. The analysis results indicated that Benalaxyl-M is non-toxic in terms of acute oral and contact toxicity for honey bees (83-86% reliability). The Applicability Domain analysis confirmed the reliability of the predictions, while contribution maps identified functional groups contributing to toxicity. Although the findings suggest a low acute risk of Benalaxyl-M to honey bees, experimental validation is recommended. This study highlights the potential of AI-based tools in the ecotoxicological risk assessment of pesticides.

References

  • M. Tudi, H. D. Ruan, L. Wang, J. Lyu, R. Sadler, D. Connell, C. Chu, and D. T. Phung, "Agriculture development, pesticide application and its impact on the environment," Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 18, no. 3, p. 1112, Jan. 2021, doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031112.
  • W. Zhou, M. Li, and V. Achal, "A comprehensive review on environmental and human health impacts of chemical pesticide usage," Emerging Contaminants, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 100410, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.emcon.2024.100410.
  • M. F. Ahmad et al., "Pesticides impacts on human health and the environment with their mechanisms of action and possible countermeasures," Heliyon, vol. 10, no. 7, p. e29128, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29128.
  • M. Lechenet, G. Py, F. Dessaint, and D. Makowski, "Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and profitability on arable farms," Nature Plants, vol. 3, Art. no. 17008, 2017, doi: 10.1038/nplants.2017.8.
  • C. Shekhar et al., "A systematic review of pesticide exposure, associated risks, and long-term human health impacts," Toxicol. Rep., vol. 13, p. 101840, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2024.101840.
  • E. Hakme, M. Poulsen, and A. Lassen, "A Comprehensive Review on Pesticide Residues in Human Urine," Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.4c02705.
  • R. M. González-Rodríguez, B. Cancho-Grande, and J. Simal-Gándara, "Decay of fungicide residues during vinification of white grapes harvested after the application of some new active substances against downy mildew," Food Chem., vol. 125, no. 2, pp. 549-560, Mar. 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.09.047.
  • European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) et al., "Review of the existing maximum residue levels for benalaxyl-M according to Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005," EFSA J., vol. 17, no. 7, p. 5818, Jul. 2019, doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5818.
  • J. G. Zaller and C. A. Brühl, "Editorial: Non-target effects of pesticides on organisms inhabiting agroecosystems," Front. Environ. Sci., vol. 7, Art. no. 75, 2019, doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2019.00075. [ J. Grassl et al., "Synergistic effects of pathogen and pesticide exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera) survival and immunity," J. Invertebr. Pathol., vol. 159, pp. 78-86, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.jip.2018.10.005.
  • F. Sanchez-Bayo and K. Goka, "Pesticide residues and bees- A risk assessment," PLoS ONE, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094482.
  • M. Schott et al., "Temporal dynamics of whole body residues of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid in live or dead honeybees," Sci. Rep., vol. 7, p. 6288, 2017, doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06259-z.
  • V. V. Kleandrova et al., "In silico assessment of the acute toxicity of chemicals: Recent advances and new model for multitasking prediction of toxic effect," Mini Rev. Med. Chem., vol. 15, no. 8, pp. 677-686, 2015, doi: 10.2174/1389557515666150219143604.
  • R. M. González-Rodríguez, B. Cancho-Grande, and J. Simal-Gándara, "Multiresidue determination of 11 new fungicides in grapes and wines by liquid-liquid extraction/clean-up and programmable temperature vaporization injection with analyte protectants/gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry," J. Chromatogr. A, vol. 1216, no. 32, pp. 6033-6042, Aug. 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2009.06.046.
  • PubChem, “Benalaxyl-M,” National Center for Biotechnology Information. [Online]. Available: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/176648. [Accessed: May 2, 2025].
  • J. T. Moreira-Filho et al., "BeeToxAI: An artificial intelligence-based web app to assess acute toxicity of chemicals to honey bees," Artif. Intell. Life Sci., vol. 1, Dec. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.ailsci.2021.100013.
  • F. Wang et al., "Graph attention convolutional neural network model for chemical poisoning of honey bees' prediction," Sci. Bull., vol. 65, no. 14, pp. 1184-1191, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.04.006.
  • S. Riniker and G. A. Landrum, "Similarity maps-a visualization strategy for molecular fingerprints and machine-learning methods," J. Cheminf., vol. 5, pp. 1-7, 2013, doi: 10.1186/1758-2946-5-43.
  • BeeToxAI. [Online]. Available: http://beetoxai.labmol.com.br. Accessed: Apr. 10, 2025.
  • S. A. Mansour, "Pesticide exposure-Egyptian scene," Toxicology, vol. 198, no. 1-3, pp. 91-115, 2004, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tox.2004.01.036
  • Tarım İlacı (Pestisit) Kullanımı, Ankara, Turkey: Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://cevreselgostergeler.csb.gov.tr/tarim-ilaci-pestisit-kullanimi-i-85834. Accessed: Apr. 25, 2025.
  • N. Vural, Toksikoloji, Ankara, Turkey: Ankara Üniversitesi Eczacılık Fakültesi Yayınları, 2005, p. 659.
  • S. Ali et al., "Environmental and Health Effects of Pesticide Residues," in Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 48, I. Inamuddin, M. I. Ahamed, and E. Lichtfouse, Eds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021, ch. 8. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54719-6_8.
  • M. A. Beketov, B. J. Kefford, R. B. Schäfer, and M. Liess, "Pesticides reduce regional biodiversity of stream invertebrates," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., vol. 110, no. 27, pp. 11039–11043, 2013, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1305618110.
  • G. L. Baron et al., "Pesticide reduces bumblebee colony initiation and increases probability of population extinction," Nat. Ecol. Evol., vol. 1, pp. 1308-1316, 2017, doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0260-1.
  • T. Haarmann, M. Spivak, D. Weaver, B. Weaver, and T. Glenn, “Effects of fluvalinate and coumaphos on queen honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in two commercial queen rearing operations,” Journal of Economic Entomology, vol. 95, no. 1, pp. 28–35, Feb. 2002., https://doi.org/10.1603/0022-0493-95.1.28
  • S. Tosi, J. C. Nieh, F. Sgolastra, R. Cabbri, and P. Medrzycki, “Neonicotinoid pesticides and nutritional stress synergistically reduce survival in honey bees,” Proc. R. Soc. B, vol. 284, no. 1869, p. 20171711, 2017. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1711
  • V. L. Imperatriz-Fonseca et al., The Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production. Bonn, Germany: Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, 2016.
  • Cost Estimates of Studies Required for Pesticide Registration, Washington, DC, USA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 13, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/cost-estimates-studies-required-pesticide-registration. Accessed: Apr. 25, 2025.
  • Ecological Effects Test Guidelines: Honey Bee Toxicity of Residues on Foliage (OCSPP 850.3030), Washington, DC, USA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Jan. 2012. [Online]. Available: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0154-0017. Accessed: Apr. 25, 2025.
  • Xu P, Liu D, Diao J, Lu D, Zhou Z. Enantioselective acute toxicity and bioaccumulation of benalaxyl in earthworm (Eisenia fetida). J. Agric. Food Chem. 2009;57(18):8545-8549.
  • Huang L, Lu D, Diao J, Zhou Z. Enantioselective toxic effects and biodegradation of benalaxyl in Scenedesmus obliquus. Chemosphere. 2012;87(1):7-11.

Benalaxyl-M Maddesinin Arılar Üzerindeki Toksik Etkilerinin In Silico Değerlendirilmesi

Year 2025, Volume: 5 Issue: 1, 43 - 51, 04.05.2025
https://doi.org/10.59838/etoxec.1674950

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, Benalaxyl-M maddesinin bal arıları (Apis mellifera) üzerindeki akut toksik etkileri, makine öğrenimi tabanlı bir QSAR (Kantitatif Yapı-Aktivite İlişkisi) aracı olan BeeToxAI kullanılarak in silico yöntemlerle değerlendirilmiştir. Analiz sonuçları, Benalaxyl-M'nin bal arıları için akut oral ve kontakt toksisite açısından toksik olmadığını (%83-86 güvenilirlik) göstermiştir. Uygulanabilirlik Alanı analizi, tahminlerin güvenilir olduğunu doğrularken, katkı haritaları moleküldeki toksisiteye katkı yapan fonksiyonel grupları belirlemede kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular, Benalaxyl-M'nin bal arıları üzerindeki düşük akut riskini ortaya koysa da, sonuçların deneysel çalışmalarla desteklenmesi önerilmektedir. Bu çalışma, pestisitlerin ekotoksikolojik risk değerlendirmelerinde yapay zeka tabanlı araçların potansiyelini vurgulamaktadır.

References

  • M. Tudi, H. D. Ruan, L. Wang, J. Lyu, R. Sadler, D. Connell, C. Chu, and D. T. Phung, "Agriculture development, pesticide application and its impact on the environment," Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 18, no. 3, p. 1112, Jan. 2021, doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031112.
  • W. Zhou, M. Li, and V. Achal, "A comprehensive review on environmental and human health impacts of chemical pesticide usage," Emerging Contaminants, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 100410, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.emcon.2024.100410.
  • M. F. Ahmad et al., "Pesticides impacts on human health and the environment with their mechanisms of action and possible countermeasures," Heliyon, vol. 10, no. 7, p. e29128, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29128.
  • M. Lechenet, G. Py, F. Dessaint, and D. Makowski, "Reducing pesticide use while preserving crop productivity and profitability on arable farms," Nature Plants, vol. 3, Art. no. 17008, 2017, doi: 10.1038/nplants.2017.8.
  • C. Shekhar et al., "A systematic review of pesticide exposure, associated risks, and long-term human health impacts," Toxicol. Rep., vol. 13, p. 101840, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2024.101840.
  • E. Hakme, M. Poulsen, and A. Lassen, "A Comprehensive Review on Pesticide Residues in Human Urine," Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jafc.4c02705.
  • R. M. González-Rodríguez, B. Cancho-Grande, and J. Simal-Gándara, "Decay of fungicide residues during vinification of white grapes harvested after the application of some new active substances against downy mildew," Food Chem., vol. 125, no. 2, pp. 549-560, Mar. 2011, doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.09.047.
  • European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) et al., "Review of the existing maximum residue levels for benalaxyl-M according to Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 396/2005," EFSA J., vol. 17, no. 7, p. 5818, Jul. 2019, doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2019.5818.
  • J. G. Zaller and C. A. Brühl, "Editorial: Non-target effects of pesticides on organisms inhabiting agroecosystems," Front. Environ. Sci., vol. 7, Art. no. 75, 2019, doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2019.00075. [ J. Grassl et al., "Synergistic effects of pathogen and pesticide exposure on honey bee (Apis mellifera) survival and immunity," J. Invertebr. Pathol., vol. 159, pp. 78-86, 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.jip.2018.10.005.
  • F. Sanchez-Bayo and K. Goka, "Pesticide residues and bees- A risk assessment," PLoS ONE, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0094482.
  • M. Schott et al., "Temporal dynamics of whole body residues of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid in live or dead honeybees," Sci. Rep., vol. 7, p. 6288, 2017, doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06259-z.
  • V. V. Kleandrova et al., "In silico assessment of the acute toxicity of chemicals: Recent advances and new model for multitasking prediction of toxic effect," Mini Rev. Med. Chem., vol. 15, no. 8, pp. 677-686, 2015, doi: 10.2174/1389557515666150219143604.
  • R. M. González-Rodríguez, B. Cancho-Grande, and J. Simal-Gándara, "Multiresidue determination of 11 new fungicides in grapes and wines by liquid-liquid extraction/clean-up and programmable temperature vaporization injection with analyte protectants/gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry," J. Chromatogr. A, vol. 1216, no. 32, pp. 6033-6042, Aug. 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.chroma.2009.06.046.
  • PubChem, “Benalaxyl-M,” National Center for Biotechnology Information. [Online]. Available: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/176648. [Accessed: May 2, 2025].
  • J. T. Moreira-Filho et al., "BeeToxAI: An artificial intelligence-based web app to assess acute toxicity of chemicals to honey bees," Artif. Intell. Life Sci., vol. 1, Dec. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.ailsci.2021.100013.
  • F. Wang et al., "Graph attention convolutional neural network model for chemical poisoning of honey bees' prediction," Sci. Bull., vol. 65, no. 14, pp. 1184-1191, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2020.04.006.
  • S. Riniker and G. A. Landrum, "Similarity maps-a visualization strategy for molecular fingerprints and machine-learning methods," J. Cheminf., vol. 5, pp. 1-7, 2013, doi: 10.1186/1758-2946-5-43.
  • BeeToxAI. [Online]. Available: http://beetoxai.labmol.com.br. Accessed: Apr. 10, 2025.
  • S. A. Mansour, "Pesticide exposure-Egyptian scene," Toxicology, vol. 198, no. 1-3, pp. 91-115, 2004, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tox.2004.01.036
  • Tarım İlacı (Pestisit) Kullanımı, Ankara, Turkey: Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://cevreselgostergeler.csb.gov.tr/tarim-ilaci-pestisit-kullanimi-i-85834. Accessed: Apr. 25, 2025.
  • N. Vural, Toksikoloji, Ankara, Turkey: Ankara Üniversitesi Eczacılık Fakültesi Yayınları, 2005, p. 659.
  • S. Ali et al., "Environmental and Health Effects of Pesticide Residues," in Sustainable Agriculture Reviews 48, I. Inamuddin, M. I. Ahamed, and E. Lichtfouse, Eds. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2021, ch. 8. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54719-6_8.
  • M. A. Beketov, B. J. Kefford, R. B. Schäfer, and M. Liess, "Pesticides reduce regional biodiversity of stream invertebrates," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., vol. 110, no. 27, pp. 11039–11043, 2013, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1305618110.
  • G. L. Baron et al., "Pesticide reduces bumblebee colony initiation and increases probability of population extinction," Nat. Ecol. Evol., vol. 1, pp. 1308-1316, 2017, doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0260-1.
  • T. Haarmann, M. Spivak, D. Weaver, B. Weaver, and T. Glenn, “Effects of fluvalinate and coumaphos on queen honey bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in two commercial queen rearing operations,” Journal of Economic Entomology, vol. 95, no. 1, pp. 28–35, Feb. 2002., https://doi.org/10.1603/0022-0493-95.1.28
  • S. Tosi, J. C. Nieh, F. Sgolastra, R. Cabbri, and P. Medrzycki, “Neonicotinoid pesticides and nutritional stress synergistically reduce survival in honey bees,” Proc. R. Soc. B, vol. 284, no. 1869, p. 20171711, 2017. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.1711
  • V. L. Imperatriz-Fonseca et al., The Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production. Bonn, Germany: Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, 2016.
  • Cost Estimates of Studies Required for Pesticide Registration, Washington, DC, USA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, May 13, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/cost-estimates-studies-required-pesticide-registration. Accessed: Apr. 25, 2025.
  • Ecological Effects Test Guidelines: Honey Bee Toxicity of Residues on Foliage (OCSPP 850.3030), Washington, DC, USA: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Jan. 2012. [Online]. Available: https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPPT-2009-0154-0017. Accessed: Apr. 25, 2025.
  • Xu P, Liu D, Diao J, Lu D, Zhou Z. Enantioselective acute toxicity and bioaccumulation of benalaxyl in earthworm (Eisenia fetida). J. Agric. Food Chem. 2009;57(18):8545-8549.
  • Huang L, Lu D, Diao J, Zhou Z. Enantioselective toxic effects and biodegradation of benalaxyl in Scenedesmus obliquus. Chemosphere. 2012;87(1):7-11.
There are 31 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects Ecotoxicology
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Sinem Öztürk 0009-0007-3458-4912

Murat Ömeroğlu 0009-0005-0528-4510

Submission Date April 14, 2025
Acceptance Date May 4, 2025
Publication Date May 4, 2025
Published in Issue Year 2025 Volume: 5 Issue: 1

Cite

IEEE S. Öztürk and M. Ömeroğlu, “Benalaxyl-M Maddesinin Arılar Üzerindeki Toksik Etkilerinin In Silico Değerlendirilmesi”, Etoxec, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 43–51, 2025, doi: 10.59838/etoxec.1674950.