Project description:The larvae of black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), has demonstrated ability in the efficient bioconversion of organic waste into a sustainable source of food and feed, but fundamental biology remains to be discovered to exploit their full biodegradative potential. Herein, LC-MS/MS was used to assess the efficiency of eight differing extraction protocols to build foundational knowledge regarding the proteome landscape of both BSF larvae body and gut. No specific protocol was superior in capturing the BSF body and gut proteome, but each yielded complementary information to improve BSF proteome coverage. Protocol-specific functional annotation using protein level information has shown that the selection of extraction buffer can affect protein detection and their associated functional classes within the measured BSF larval gut proteome. Metaproteome analysis on BSF larvae gut has uncovered the prevalence of two bacterial phyla: actinobacteria and proteobacteria. We envisage that comparing a range of extraction protocols and investigating the proteome from the BSF body and gut separately will expand the fundamental knowledge of the BSF proteome and thereby provide translational opportunities for future research to enhance their efficiency for waste degradation and contribution to the circular economy.
Project description:This study was designed to address key questions concerning the use of alternative protein sources for animal feeds and addresses aspects such as their nutrient composition and impact on gut function. The transcriptional response of intestinal mucosal tissue (jejunum and ileum) served as parameters for the local response. Growing pigs (BW 35 kg/approx. 10 weeks) were fed with experimental diets containing a single, common or new protein sources viz. soybean meal (SBM), black soldier fly larvae (BSF), spray dried blood plasma (SDPP), rapeseed meal (RSM), and wheat gluten meal (WGM) over a period of 4 weeks.
Project description:Farmed Atlantic salmon was given either a 6 % cellulose diet, a diet containing 6 % shrimp shell chitin or a diet containing 6 % chitin from black soldier fly larvae for a period of 4 weeks. The fish were split into six tanks at the beginning of the experiment; six fish per tank and two tanks per diet. RNA from stomach and pyloric caeca from four fish given each diet was sequenced.
Project description:The soldier fly is an endemic pest of sugarcane in Australia. Small numbers of larvae can cause significant damage to roots and reduce the crop yields. Little is known about the composition and function of the soldier fly salivary gland, its secretions, and their roles in insect-plant interactions. In this study, we performed transcriptome analysis of the salivary glands of starved and sugarcane root-fed soldier fly larvae. A total of 31,119 highly expressed assembled contigs were identified in the salivary glands and almost 50% of them showed high levels of similarity to known proteins in Nr databases. Of all the obtained contigs, only 9,727 sequences contain an open reading frame of over 100 amino acids. Around 31% of contigs were predicted to encode secretory proteins, including some digestive and detoxifying enzymes and potential effectors. Some known salivary secreted peptides such as serine protease, cysteine proteinase inhibitors, antimicrobial peptides and venom proteins were among the top 100 highly expressed genes. Differential gene expression analysis revealed significant modulation of 850 transcripts in salivary glands upon exposure to plant roots or starvation stress. Here, we identified some venom proteins which were significantly upregulated in the salivary glands of soldier fly larvae exposed to sugarcane roots. In other insects and nematodes some of these proteins have been used to manipulate host plant defense systems and facilitate the invasion of the host plant. These findings provide a further insight into the identification of potential effector proteins involved in soldier fly- sugarcane interactions.