title: Potential applications of insect symbionts in biotechnology.
abstract: Symbiotic interactions between insects and microorganisms are widespread in nature and are often the source of ecological innovations. In addition to supplementing their host with essential nutrients, microbial symbionts can produce enzymes that help degrade their food source as well as small molecules that defend against pathogens, parasites, and predators. As such, the study of insect ecology and symbiosis represents an important source of chemical compounds and enzymes with potential biotechnological value. In addition, the knowledge on insect symbiosis can provide novel avenues for the control of agricultural pest insects and vectors of human diseases, through targeted manipulation of the symbionts or the host-symbiont associations. Here, we discuss different insect-microbe interactions that can be exploited for insect pest and human disease control, as well as in human medicine and industrial processes. Our aim is to raise awareness that insect symbionts can be interesting sources of biotechnological applications and that knowledge on insect ecology can guide targeted efforts to discover microorganisms of applied value.
authors.affiliation: Insect Symbiosis Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. aberasategui@ice.mpg.de.|Biochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. aberasategui@ice.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Aileen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berasategui
authors.affiliation: Insect Symbiosis Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.|Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Shantanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shukla
authors.affiliation: Insect Symbiosis Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salem
authors.affiliation: Insect Symbiosis Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. mkaltenpoth@uni-mainz.de.|Department for Evolutionary Ecology, Institute of Zoology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. mkaltenpoth@uni-mainz.de.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaltenpoth
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology*; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods*; D013559:Symbiosis
keywords: Biotechnology; Incompatible insect technique; Mutualism; Paratransgenesis; Symbiosis