# Functional Elucidation of Vitellogenin receptor Activity in Apis mellifera in Response to Abiotic Stress

## TL;DR

This study shows that the AmVgR gene helps honeybees resist environmental stress by boosting their antioxidant defenses.

## Contribution

The study identifies AmVgR as a novel gene critical for honeybee resilience to abiotic stress through antioxidant regulation.

## Key findings

- AmVgR is highly expressed in adult worker bees and upregulated under various abiotic stress conditions.
- Silencing AmVgR reduces antioxidant activity and increases oxidative damage, lowering bee survival under stress.
- AmVgR plays an essential role in stress resilience and antioxidant defense in honeybees.

## Abstract

Environmental stressors like extreme temperatures, pesticides, and heavy metals threaten honeybee health. This study identifies AmVgR as critical for protecting Apis mellifera from oxidative stress. AmVgR is highly expressed in adult workers and further upregulated under stress. Silencing AmVgR via RNAi reduced the antioxidant activity, increased oxidative damage, and lowered survival under oxidative stress. These findings demonstrate AmVgR essential role in bee stress resilience, offering a novel target to enhance pollinator conservation strategies.

Abiotic stressors threaten honeybee health, jeopardizing pollination services critical to agriculture and biodiversity. Here, we identified the AmVgR gene, which encodes a member of the low-density lipoprotein receptor family, and examined its function in the response of Apis mellifera to adverse abiotic stress. AmVgR exhibited peak expression in adult workers and was significantly upregulated under heat, cold, heavy metal, and pesticide exposure. RNAi-mediated knockdown of AmVgR suppressed antioxidant enzyme activities, elevated the levels of oxidative damage markers, and downregulated antioxidant gene expression. Crucially, AmVgR silencing reduced survival under H2O2-induced oxidative stress, indicating its essential role in stress resilience. Our findings highlight AmVgR as a key regulator of antioxidant defense during development and environmental adaptation in Apis mellifera. This study provides mechanistic insights into bee stress physiology and proposes AmVgR as a novel target for enhancing pollinator protection strategies. Further research should elucidate its molecular pathways and translational applications in mitigating abiotic stress impacts.