Neonicotinoids: Advances in hazards of residues, screening of aptamers and design of aptasensors

The use of neonicotinoids (NEOs) has been rising globally due to their broad-spectrum insecticidal activity and unique mode of neurotoxic action. However, the residues of NEOs in the crops, soil, and water could cause the collapse of bee population and even threaten human health. Aptamers are short single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides isolated from randomized libraries, binding to target molecules in a way similar to antibodies. Aptamers are powerful tools in affinity reagent libraries due to various advantages including low immunogenicity, ease of large-scale synthesis, low batch-to-batch variation, easily chemical modification, and programmability. In this review, the types of NEOs currently in widespread use and the latest findings on the environmental and human health hazards of NEOs residues are briefly described. Then, the screening of aptamers for NEOs is described. Finally, a comprehensive summary of rapid detection methods for NEOs using aptamers as recognition elements is presented. This review covers information on NEOs types, usage, residue hazards, and detection methods, and also summarizes the current problems and future directions in the field. It is of great value to agricultural practitioners.