Honeybees are an important bioindicator for environmental pollutants (see Figure 1). As a substitute for fipronil, ethiprole is still a high risk to honeybees. In this study, the authors evaluated the effects of ethiprole at sublethal concentrations (10~(?5), 10~(?4), 10~(?3), and 10~(?2) mg/L) on the DNA and RNA methylation by continuous exposure of Apis mellifera ligustica worker larvae to it. The results showed significant hypomethylation of DNA 5mC and down‐regulation of Dnmt3 expression level under all test concentrations. Compared with DNA, RNA methylation, including total RNA and mRNA, was more marked. In all of the treatments, the total RNA methylation in m~5C and m~3C, and mRNA m~6A and m~3C methylation were significantly upregulated; the expression of ALKBH1 that encoding RNA m~6A demethylase was significantly down‐regulated (p < 0.01); whereas the NSUN4 encoding RNA m~5C methyltransferase was significantly up‐regulated (P < 0.01). In conclusion, Dnmt3, ALKBH1, and NSUN4 are sensitive enough to sublethal doses of ethiprole, suggesting their potential as risk evaluators for ethiprole. This study provides a new perspective and technic for the assessment of pesticide risk.
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