Gut microbes modulate Helicoverpa armigera immunity and affect its susceptibility to microbial pathogens.
Amiri Domari M, Khani A, Sahebzadeh N, Najimi M, Mehrabadi M
Biocontrol
The biological sprays protecting your vegetable garden from caterpillar damage could work far better — or far worse — depending on what microbes are living inside the pest itself.
Inside caterpillars, tiny bacteria in the gut act like a training program for the immune system. Researchers removed these bacteria from cotton bollworm caterpillars and found the insects' immune defenses weakened, making them easier to kill with natural pest-control agents like Bt (a common organic pesticide) and a fungus used in biocontrol. This suggests that the microbial community inside a pest shapes how well our natural pest-control tools actually work.
Key Findings
Removing gut bacteria from caterpillars reduced expression of two key immune defense proteins (attacin and defensin) in both the gut and fat body tissue.
Caterpillars with depleted gut microbiomes showed significantly higher vulnerability to both Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and Beauveria bassiana biocontrol agents compared to control larvae.
Injecting microbial pathogens directly into caterpillar blood suppressed the gut microbiome itself, revealing a two-way link between the blood-based immune system and gut immunity.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that the gut bacteria living inside corn earworm caterpillars help prime the insects' immune defenses. When those gut bacteria were removed, the caterpillars became significantly more vulnerable to two common biological pesticides used in farming.
Abstract Preview
Emerging research underscores the critical roles of host-associated microbiota in modulating immunity and disease resistance in insects. However, the interplay between gut microbes and innate immun...
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