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Journal of Insect Science (Online) May 2019Farming insects has recently emerged as a new source of protein and lipid production. To date, research has mostly focused on food applications of insects. Focusing on...
Farming insects has recently emerged as a new source of protein and lipid production. To date, research has mostly focused on food applications of insects. Focusing on nonfood potential of oil and proteins of insects, high-throughput studies of insect lipids and proteins are needed. We performed proteomics and lipidomics investigation on black soldier fly (Hermitia illucens) and blow fly (Lucilia sericata) larvae to investigate new potential and applications. We used mass spectrometry for proteomics and lipidomics analysis of control and treated larvae. Treatment was performed by incubation with a biological decomposer. We provide the list of all fatty acids with their concentration in control and treated larvae. This result showed high levels of lauric acid in black soldier fly, which could even increase after biological decomposition. Proteomics analysis showed the presence of proteins like collagen of cosmetic interest, and proteins with antimicrobial properties such as phenoloxidases and enzymatic activities, such as amylase and trypsin. Insects harbor high potential for nonfood usage as additives, antimicrobial effects, and even pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. These data open avenues for future research in pharmacological and cosmetic approaches to find new molecules of interests.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Infective Agents; Diptera; Insect Proteins; Larva; Lipid Metabolism; Lipids; Proteome; Proteomics
PubMed: 31237955
DOI: 10.1093/jisesa/iez050 -
Applied and Environmental Microbiology Sep 2020Polystyrene (PS), which accounts for a significant fraction of plastic wastes, is difficult to biodegrade due to its unique molecular structure. Therefore,...
Polystyrene (PS), which accounts for a significant fraction of plastic wastes, is difficult to biodegrade due to its unique molecular structure. Therefore, biodegradation and chemical modification of PS are limited. In this study, we report PS biodegradation by the larvae of the darkling beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). In 14 days, ingested 34.27 ± 4.04 mg of Styrofoam (PS foam) per larva and survived by feeding only on Styrofoam. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that the ingested Styrofoam was oxidized. Gel permeation chromatography analysis indicated the decrease in average molecular weight of the residual PS in the frass compared with the feed Styrofoam. When the extracted gut flora was cultured for 20 days with PS films, biofilm and cavities were observed by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies revealed that C-O bonding was introduced into the biodegraded PS film. sp. strain WSW (KCTC 82146), which was isolated from the gut flora, also formed a biofilm and cavities on the PS film in 20 days, but its degradation was less prominent than the gut flora. XPS confirmed that C-O and C=O bonds were introduced into the biodegraded PS film by sp. WSW. Microbial community analysis revealed that was in the gut flora in significant amounts and increased sixfold when the larvae were fed Styrofoam for 2 weeks. This suggests that larvae and its gut bacteria could be used to chemically modify and rapidly degrade PS. PS is widely produced in the modern world, but it is robust against biodegradation. A few studies reported the biodegradation of PS, but most of them merely observed its weight loss; fewer were able to find its chemical modifications, which are rather direct evidence of biodegradation, by using limited organisms. Therefore, it is required to find an effective way to decompose PS using various kinds of organisms. Herein, we discovered a new PS-degrading insect species and bacterial strain, and we found that the genus that includes the PS-degrading bacterial strain occurs in significant amounts in the larval gut flora, and the proportion of this genus increased as the larvae were fed Styrofoam. Our research offers a wider selection of PS-degrading insects and the possibility of using a certain mixture of bacteria that resemble the gut flora of a PS-degrading insect to biodegrade PS, and thus could contribute to solving the global plastic crisis.
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Biodegradation, Environmental; Coleoptera; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Larva; Polystyrenes; Republic of Korea
PubMed: 32631863
DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01361-20 -
Parasitology Feb 2021Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the leading cause of eosinophilic meningitis worldwide, with life-threatening complications if not managed correctly. Previous in vitro...
Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the leading cause of eosinophilic meningitis worldwide, with life-threatening complications if not managed correctly. Previous in vitro studies have utilized change in motility patterns of adult female worms to assess the efficacy of anthelmintics qualitatively. However, it is the third stage larvae (L3) that are infectious to humans. With differential staining using propidium iodide penetration as the indicator of death, we can distinguish between dead and live larvae. This assay has enabled us to quantify the in vitro efficacy of nine clinically established anthelmintics on A. cantonensis L3. All drugs were tested at a 1 mm concentration. Piperazine and niclosamide were ineffective in inducing larval death; however, albendazole sulfoxide, pyrantel pamoate, diethylcarbamazine, levamisole and praziquantel were effective as compared to unexposed controls (P < 0.05). Ivermectin and moxidectin did not induce significant levels of mortality, but they considerably reduced larval motility almost immediately. This study indicates the need for further in vivo studies to determine the optimal dose and time frame for post-infection treatment with anthelmintics that demonstrated efficacy.
Topics: Angiostrongylus cantonensis; Animals; Anthelmintics; Female; Larva; Strongylida Infections
PubMed: 32799943
DOI: 10.1017/S0031182020001146 -
Mycotoxin Research Feb 2021Within the European Union (EU), edible insects need to be approved as "Novel Food" according to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 and must comply with the requirements of...
Within the European Union (EU), edible insects need to be approved as "Novel Food" according to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 and must comply with the requirements of European food law with regard to microbiological and chemical food safety. Substrates used for feeding insects are susceptible to the growth of Fusarium spp. and consequently to contamination with trichothecene mycotoxins. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the influence of T-2 and HT-2 toxins on the larval life cycle of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor (L.)) and to study the transfer of T-2, HT-2, T-2 triol and T-2 tetraol in the larvae. In a 4-week feeding study, T. molitor larvae were kept either on naturally (oat flakes moulded with Fusarium sporotrichioides) or artificially contaminated oat flakes, each at two levels (approximately 100 and 250 μg/kg total T-2 and HT-2). Weight gain and survival rates were monitored, and mycotoxins in the feeding substrates, larvae and residues were determined using LC-MS/MS. Larval development varied between the diets and was 44% higher for larvae fed artificially contaminated diets. However, the artificially contaminated diets had a 16% lower survival rate. No trichothecenes were detected in the surviving larvae after harvest, but T-2 and HT-2 were found both in the dead larvae and in the residues of naturally and artificially contaminated diets.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Fusarium; Larva; T-2 Toxin; Tenebrio
PubMed: 32990831
DOI: 10.1007/s12550-020-00411-x -
Scientific Reports Dec 2016The larval stages of malaria vector mosquitoes develop in water pools, feeding mostly on microorganisms and environmental detritus. Richness in the nutrient supply to...
The larval stages of malaria vector mosquitoes develop in water pools, feeding mostly on microorganisms and environmental detritus. Richness in the nutrient supply to larvae influences the development and metabolism of larvae and adults. Here, we investigated the effects of larval diet on the development, microbiota content and permissiveness to Plasmodium of Anopheles coluzzii. We tested three fish diets often used to rear mosquitoes in the laboratory, including two pelleted diets, Dr. Clarke's Pool Pellets and Nishikoi Fish Pellets, and one flaked diet, Tetramin Fish-Flakes. Larvae grow and develop faster and produce bigger adults when feeding on both types of pellets compared with flakes. This correlates with a higher microbiota load in pellet-fed larvae, in agreement with the known positive effect of the microbiota on mosquito development. Larval diet also significantly influences the prevalence and intensity of Plasmodium berghei infection in adults, whereby Nishikoi Fish Pellets-fed larvae develop into adults that are highly permissive to parasites and survive longer after infection. This correlates with a lower amount of Enterobacteriaceae in the midgut microbiota. Together, our results shed light on the influence of larval feeding on mosquito development, microbiota and vector competence; they also provide useful data for mosquito rearing.
Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Anopheles; Larva; Plasmodium berghei
PubMed: 27910908
DOI: 10.1038/srep38230 -
Scientific Reports Sep 2019The analysis of larval zebrafish locomotor behavior has emerged as a powerful indicator of perturbations in the nervous system and is used in many fields of research,...
The analysis of larval zebrafish locomotor behavior has emerged as a powerful indicator of perturbations in the nervous system and is used in many fields of research, including neuroscience, toxicology and drug discovery. The behavior of larval zebrafish however, is highly variable, resulting in the use of large numbers of animals and the inability to detect small effects. In this study, we analyzed whether individual locomotor behavior is stable over development and whether behavioral parameters correlate with physiological and morphological features, with the aim of better understanding the variability and predictability of larval locomotor behavior. Our results reveal that locomotor activity of an individual larva remains consistent throughout a given day and is predictable throughout larval development, especially during dark phases, under which larvae demonstrate light-searching behaviors and increased activity. The larvae's response to startle-stimuli was found to be unpredictable, with no correlation found between response strength and locomotor activity. Furthermore, locomotor activity was not associated with physiological or morphological features of a larva (resting heart rate, body length, size of the swim bladder). Overall, our findings highlight the areas of intra-individual consistency, which could be used to improve the sensitivity of assays using zebrafish locomotor activity as an endpoint.
Topics: Acclimatization; Animals; Behavior, Animal; Heart Rate; Larva; Light; Locomotion; Photic Stimulation; Zebrafish
PubMed: 31541136
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49614-y -
Communications Biology Feb 2021Historically, marine populations were considered to be interconnected across large geographic regions due to the lack of apparent physical barriers to dispersal, coupled... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Historically, marine populations were considered to be interconnected across large geographic regions due to the lack of apparent physical barriers to dispersal, coupled with a potentially widely dispersive pelagic larval stage. Recent studies, however, are providing increasing evidence of small-scale genetic segregation of populations across habitats and depths, separated in some cases by only a few dozen meters. Here, we performed a series of ex-situ and in-situ experiments using coral larvae of three brooding species from contrasting shallow- and deep-water reef habitats, and show that their settlement success, habitat choices, and subsequent survival are substantially influenced by parental effects in a habitat-dependent manner. Generally, larvae originating from deep-water corals, which experience less variable conditions, expressed more specific responses than shallow-water larvae, with a higher settlement success in simulated parental-habitat conditions. Survival of juvenile corals experimentally translocated to the sea was significantly lower when not at parental depths. We conclude that local adaptations and parental effects alongside larval selectivity and phenotype-environment mismatches combine to create invisible semipermeable barriers to coral dispersal and connectivity, leading to habitat-dependent population segregation.
Topics: Acclimatization; Animals; Anthozoa; Coral Reefs; Larva; Population Dynamics; Seasons; Temperature; Time Factors
PubMed: 33589736
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-01727-9 -
Baby makes three: Maternal, paternal, and zygotic genetic effects shape larval phenotypic evolution.Evolution; International Journal of... Jul 2021The evolutionary potential of a population is shaped by the genetic architecture of its life-history traits. Early-life phenotypes are influenced by both maternal and...
The evolutionary potential of a population is shaped by the genetic architecture of its life-history traits. Early-life phenotypes are influenced by both maternal and offspring genotype, and efforts to understand life-history evolution therefore require consideration of the interactions between these separate but correlated genomes. We used a four-generation experimental pedigree to estimate the genetic architecture of early-life phenotypes in a species with dramatic variation in larval size and morphology. In the polychaete annelid Streblospio benedicti, females make either many small eggs that develop into complex larvae that feed in the plankton or few large eggs that develop into benthic juveniles without having to feed as larvae. By isolating the contributions of maternal, paternal, and zygotic genotype to larval traits, we determined that larval anatomical structures are governed by the offspring genotype at a small number of large-effect loci. Larval size is not shaped by the larva's own genotype but instead depends on loci that act in the mother, and at two genomic locations, by loci that act in the father. The overall phenotype of each larva thus depends on three separate genomes, and a population's response to selection on larval traits will reflect the interactions among them.
Topics: Animals; Fathers; Female; Humans; Larva; Male; Phenotype; Polychaeta; Zygote
PubMed: 33928631
DOI: 10.1111/evo.14244 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2023Individuals of many animal populations exhibit idiosyncratic behaviors. One measure of idiosyncratic behavior is a behavior syndrome, defined as the stability of one or...
Individuals of many animal populations exhibit idiosyncratic behaviors. One measure of idiosyncratic behavior is a behavior syndrome, defined as the stability of one or more behavior traits in an individual across different situations. While behavior syndromes have been described in various animal systems, their properties and the circuit mechanisms that generate them are poorly understood. We thus have an incomplete understanding of how circuit properties influence animal behavior. Here, we characterize olfactory behavior syndromes in the Drosophila larva. We show that larvae exhibit idiosyncrasies in their olfactory behavior over short time scales. They are influenced by the larva's satiety state and odor environment. Additionally, we identified a group of antennal lobe local neurons that influence the larva's idiosyncratic behavior. These findings reveal previously unsuspected influences on idiosyncratic behavior. They further affirm the idea that idiosyncrasies are not simply statistical phenomena but manifestations of neural mechanisms. In light of these findings, we discuss more broadly the importance of idiosyncrasies to animal survival and how they might be studied.
Topics: Animals; Drosophila; Larva; Neurons; Odorants; Behavior, Animal; Syndrome; Drosophila melanogaster; Olfactory Pathways; Drosophila Proteins; Olfactory Receptor Neurons
PubMed: 36765192
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29523-x -
The International Journal of... Feb 1996Experimental data reveal that most, if not all, major events in the metagenetic life-cycle of Cassiopea spp. at these checkpoints depend on the interaction with specific... (Review)
Review
Experimental data reveal that most, if not all, major events in the metagenetic life-cycle of Cassiopea spp. at these checkpoints depend on the interaction with specific biotic and physical cues. For medusa formation within a permissive temperature range by monodisk strobilation of the polyp, the presence of endosymbiotic dinoflagellates is indispensable. The priming effect of the algal symbionts is not primarily coupled with photosynthetic activity, but was found to be enhanced in the light. Budding of larva-like propagules by the polyp, however, is independent from such zooxanthellae. On the other hand the budding rate is influenced by various rearing conditions. Exogenous chemical cues control settlement and metamorphosis into scyphopolyps of both sexually produced planula larvae and asexual propagules. In laboratory experiments two classes of metamorphosis inducing compounds have been detected: a family of oligopeptides, featuring a proline-residue next to the carboxyterminal amino acid, and several phorbol esters. Using the peptide 14C-DNS-GPGGPA, induction of metamorphosis has been shown to be receptor-mediated. Furthermore, activation of protein kinase C, a key enzyme within the inositolphospholipid-signalling pathway appears to be involved in initiating metamorphosis. In mangrove habitats of Cassiopea spp. planula larvae specifically settle and metamorphose on submerged, deteriorating mangrove leaves from which biologically active fractions have been isolated. The chemical characterisation and comparison of these compounds from the natural environment with the properties and mode of action of oligopeptide inducers is in progress.
Topics: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Larva; Metamorphosis, Biological; Oligopeptides; Phorbol Esters; Protein Kinase C; Receptors, Cell Surface; Scyphozoa
PubMed: 8735945
DOI: No ID Found