Multifaceted defense against antagonistic microbes in developing offspring of the parasitoid wasp Ampulex compressa (Hymenoptera, Ampulicidae).

ABSTRACT: Effective antimicrobial strategies are essential adaptations of insects to protect themselves, their offspring, and their foods from microbial pathogens and decomposers. Larvae of the emerald cockroach wasp, Ampulex compressa, sanitize their cockroach hosts, Periplaneta americana, with a cocktail of nine antimicrobials comprising mainly (R)-(-)-mellein and micromolide. The blend of these antimicrobials has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Here we explore the spatio-temporal pattern of deployment of antimicrobials during the development from egg to adult as well as their physico-chemical properties to assess how these aspects may contribute to the success of the antimicrobial strategy. Using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) we show that larvae start sanitizing their food a

SUBMITTER: Weiss K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4041758 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature