Identifying immune-linked cytokines in locust species Locusta migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria

The locust species Locusta migratoria and Schistocerca gregaria are major tropical crop pests which can cause huge devastation of agricultural crops when they form adult swarms. Current locust control methods depend on post-outbreak chemical pesticide treatments which have drawbacks such as high pesticide expenditure, pesticide resistance and pollution (van der Valk and Everts 2003). We believe that by using entomopathogen-based locust biocontrol methods we can make the prevailing challenges in chemical methods obsolete. Developing optimal entomopathogen-based locust biocontrol requires comprehensive knowledge of the locust immune system since each time when resistant locusts evolve, the knowledge may allow us to use appropriate entomopathogens at the right developmental stage of the locust population. Locusts rely on innate immunity to defend themselves against invading pathogens. However, unlike many insect species for locusts no reports on production of antimicrobial peptides are documented (Li et. al. 2012) and the locust immunity seems mainly cell based. Apart from demonstrating efficient bacterial clearance we are now screening cytokines which drive immune pathways such as pathogen recognition, signaling and hemocyte recruitment in the locust cellular immune system. Hence, we report in vivo and in vitro methods we developed for the cytokine screening. In parallel, we tell about our persistent attempts to develop cell-line from locust embryo and hematopoietic cells, which surely will facilitate the screening process of immune-linked cytokines in the locust species.status: publishe