Metagenomic screening of reared Gryllodes sigillatus

Here, we screened for potential pathogens infecting a colony of reared Gryllodes sigillatus crickets. Symptoms present included high, intermittent mortality among late-instar nymphs and adults, a strong putrid odor within rearing containers, milky white hemolymph which appeared iridescent under illuminated magnification, increased cuticle and tissue frailty, and underdeveloped or absent ovaries in some adult females. We performed metagenomic sequencing of both hemolmph and dissected guts of adult G. sigillatus crickets and found a high abundance of an iridovirus (Liz CrIV). These results add to the foundational research needed to increase our understanding of the pathology of mass-reared insects and ultimately develop the prevention, mitigation, and intervention strategies needed for economical production of insects as a commodity.

本项研究中，我们对饲养的Gryllodes sigillatus蟋蟀群体中潜在的病原体进行了筛选。观察到的症状包括晚龄若虫和成虫的高发间歇性死亡率，饲养容器内强烈的恶臭，乳白色血液淋巴液在光照放大下呈现彩虹般光泽，表皮和组织的脆弱性增加，部分成年雌虫卵巢发育不良或缺失。我们对成年Gryllodes sigillatus蟋蟀的血液淋巴液和 dissected guts 进行了宏基因组测序，发现了一种丰富的虹彩病毒（Liz CrIV）。这些发现有助于增进我们对大规模饲养昆虫病理学的理解，并为昆虫作为商品的经济发展提供必要的预防、缓解和干预策略的基础研究。