Effects of diet and feed composition on antibacterial activity of hemolymph of saproxylic beetles: A case study of Zophobas atratus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

Abstract

Effects of the diet on the antibacterial activity of hemolymph of Zophobas atratus (Fabricius, 1775) larvae cultivated in laboratory conditions are described. It is shown that plasma specimens of Z. atratus larvae grown on an artificial fungi-based diet have a prominent antibacterial activity as compared to plasma specimens of larvae grown on a diet of standard feed, so it can be suggested that the diet composition intensifies the synthesis of efficient concentrations of bactericide molecules to the hemolymph. It is found that the hemolymph fraction below 30 kDa inhibits the growth of gram-negative bacteria E. coli ATCC 25922, but has no activity towards gram-positive bacteria B. subtilis ATCC 6633=DSM 347.