D3383: Immune response of the black soldier fly to Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Andrei Alyokhin

Professor
University of Maine
Orono, Maine

Co-Author(s)

MM

Matthew A. Moyet (he/him/his)

Graduate Research Assistant
University of Maine
Orono, Maine
EB

Edward Bernard

University of Maine
Orono, Maine

The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) is an omnivorous, saprophagous insect that is native to North America. It is rapidly becoming an important bioconversion agent for various types of organic wastes on an industrial scale. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an opportunistic bacterium that may cause gastrointestinal ailments in humans and other animals when ingested. In our experiments, black soldier fly larvae encouraged growth of V. parahaemolyticus on potato and fish substrates. V. parahaemolyticus triggered the expression of the genes belonging to the ontologies of antimicrobial humoral response, antibacterial humoral response, and defense response to gram-negative bacteria in black soldier fly larvae. It also affected the expression of cJNK gene, which is a component of transcription factor needed for an immune response of insects. Our findings highlight that similar to other biotechnological processes, biological safety is an important concern when rearing black soldier flies on an industrial scale.