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Commercial beekeepers transporting honey bees across the United States to provide almond pollination services have reported honey bee deaths, possibly due to pesticide applications made during crop bloom. Pesticides are often applied as "tank mixes", or mixtures of fungicides and insecticides combined into a single application. Spray adjuvants are often added to tank mixes to improve the application characteristics of a pesticide and include spreaders, stickers, or surfactants. The goal of this research was to determine toxicity of adjuvants to adult worker honey bees, both when applied alone and in adjuvant-pesticide tank mixtures. Field-relevant combinations of formulated products were applied to 3-day-old adult worker honey bees using a Potter Spray Tower, and mortality was assessed 48 h following exposure. Adjuvants tested included Activator-90, Attach, Choice Weather Master, Cohere, Dyne-Amic, Induce, Kinetic, LI 700, Liberate, Nu-Film P, PHT Latron B-1956, and Surf-90; fungicides tested include Luna Sensation (Fluopyram and Trifloxystrobin), Pristine (Pyraclostrobin and Boscalid), Tilt (Propiconazole), and Vangard (Cyprodinil), and insecticides tested include Altacor (Chlorantraniliprole), Intrepid 2F (Methoxyfenozide), and a positive control Mustang Maxx (Zeta-cypermethrin). Results demonstrated that exposure to some adjuvants causes acute honey bee mortality at near-field application rates, both when applied alone and in combination with pesticides. Some adjuvant-pesticide combinations demonstrated increased toxicity compared with the adjuvant alone, while others demonstrated decreased toxicity. A better understanding of adjuvant and adjuvant-pesticide tank mixture toxicity to honey bees will play a key role in informing "Best Management Practices" for pesticide applicators using spray adjuvants during bloom when honey bee exposure is likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almond [Prunus dulcis (Mill.) D.A. Webb] is an economically important, specialty nut crop grown almost exclusively in the United States. Breeding and improvement efforts worldwide have led to the development of key, productive cultivars, including 'Nonpareil,' which is the most widely grown almond cultivar. Thus far, genomic resources for this species have been limited, and a whole-genome assembly for 'Nonpareil' is not currently available despite its economic importance and use in almond breeding worldwide. We generated a 571X coverage genome sequence using Illumina, PacBio, and optical mapping technologies. Gene prediction revealed 49,321 putative genes using MinION Oxford nanopore and Illumina RNA sequencing, and genome annotation found that 68% of predicted models are associated with at least one biological function. Furthermore, epigenetic signatures of almond, namely DNA cytosine methylation, have been implicated in a variety of phenotypes including self-compatibility, bud dormancy, and development of noninfectious bud failure. In addition to the genome sequence and annotation, this report also provides the complete methylome of several almond tissues, including leaf, flower, endocarp, mesocarp, exocarp, and seed coat. Comparisons between methylation profiles in these tissues revealed differences in genome-wide weighted % methylation and chromosome-level methylation enrichment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]