Rapid evolutionary adaptation to diet composition in the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rapid evolutionary adaptation to diet composition in the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)

AU - Gligorescu, Anton

AU - Chen, Long

AU - Jensen, Kim

AU - Nasiri Moghadam, Neda

AU - Kristensen, Torsten Nygård

AU - Sørensen, Jesper Givskov

PY - 2023/10

Y1 - 2023/10

N2 - Genetic adaptation of Hermetia illucens (BSF) to suboptimal single sourced waste streams can open new perspectives for insect production. Here, four BSF lines were maintained on a single sourced, low-quality wheat bran diet (WB) or on a high-quality chicken feed diet (CF) for 13 generations. We continuously evaluated presumed evolutionary responses in several performance traits to rearing on the two diets. Subsequently, we tested responses to interchanged diets, i.e., of larvae that had been reared on low-quality feed and tested on high-quality feed and vice versa to evaluate costs associated with adaptation to different diets. BSF were found to experience rapid adaptation to the diet composition. While performances on the WB diet were always inferior to the CF diet, the adaptive responses were stronger to the former diet. This stronger response was likely due to stronger selection pressure experienced by BSF fed on the low-quality single sourced diet. The interchanged diet experiment found no costs associated with diet adaptation, but revealed cross generational gain associated with the parental CF diet treatment. Our results revealed that BSF can rapidly respond adaptively to diet, although the mechanisms are yet to be determined. This has potential to be utilized in commercial insect breeding to produce lines tailored to specific diets.

AB - Genetic adaptation of Hermetia illucens (BSF) to suboptimal single sourced waste streams can open new perspectives for insect production. Here, four BSF lines were maintained on a single sourced, low-quality wheat bran diet (WB) or on a high-quality chicken feed diet (CF) for 13 generations. We continuously evaluated presumed evolutionary responses in several performance traits to rearing on the two diets. Subsequently, we tested responses to interchanged diets, i.e., of larvae that had been reared on low-quality feed and tested on high-quality feed and vice versa to evaluate costs associated with adaptation to different diets. BSF were found to experience rapid adaptation to the diet composition. While performances on the WB diet were always inferior to the CF diet, the adaptive responses were stronger to the former diet. This stronger response was likely due to stronger selection pressure experienced by BSF fed on the low-quality single sourced diet. The interchanged diet experiment found no costs associated with diet adaptation, but revealed cross generational gain associated with the parental CF diet treatment. Our results revealed that BSF can rapidly respond adaptively to diet, although the mechanisms are yet to be determined. This has potential to be utilized in commercial insect breeding to produce lines tailored to specific diets.

KW - evolutionary adaptation

KW - insect production

KW - low-quality diets

KW - single-sourced waste streams

KW - trade-offs

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85175020906&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/insects14100821

DO - 10.3390/insects14100821

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37887833

SN - 2075-4450

VL - 14

JO - Insects

JF - Insects

IS - 10

M1 - 821

ER -