Effects of different selenium sources on growth and reproduction,antioxidant,and immune response in Apis cerana

HU Tianzheng; YANG Chengrui; HU Xinyu; WANG Jiayu

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2025.23.019

Abstract：This experiment aimed to investigate the effects of different selenium sources on the growth and reproduction,antioxidant,and immune response in Apis cerana.A total of 12 healthy Apis cerana colonies with comparable strength,queens of similar onset of egg-laying,and stable egg production were randomly divided into four groups with three replicates per group,and one swarm per replicate.The control group received a basal diet,while the experimental groups were supplemented with 0.5 mg/kg of sodium selenite,selenium yeast,and nano-selenium,respectively.The pre-test period was seven days,and the formal test period was 21 days.The results showed that compared with the control group,experimental groups exhibited significantly increased pupation rate,pupal weight,eclosion rate,and newborn bee weight(P<0.05).The growth indexes of the yeast selenium group and nano selenium group were significantly higher than those of the sodium selenite group(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in the first-day egg-laying quantity per bee in the experimental groups(P>0.05),while the yeast selenium group and nano selenium group significantly increased the average daily egg-laying quantity per bee(P<0.05).The activity of superoxide dismutase in the experimental groups was significantly increased(P<0.05),while the activities of catalase and glutathione peroxidase were significantly increased in the yeast selenium group and nano selenium group(P<0.05).The relative gene expression levels of defensin,abaecin,and hymenoptaecin in experimental groups were significantly increased(P<0.05).The study shows that different selenium sources can promote the growth and reproduction of Apis cerana,enhance antioxidant capacity and immune function,among which yeast selenium and nano selenium have better effects.