Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

For my project i want to test if acai berries improve immunity by including it in the diet of mealworms and comparing lifespan to other mealworms. What bacteria would you recomend that i introduce to them to test for immunity.

Hi,

You have a very interesting question! I did some searching for you, and the following maybe of some help. This paper describes use of a fungus to challenge the immunity and how that relates to lifespan: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... 5.full.pdf

This paper describes use of E. coli purchased from Sigma http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/ ... /1399.long

Please let me know if you ned additional help, but I think this answers your question. You may find additional papers using the references section of the papers I linked to above. If you also google search by "meal worm immunity" you will likely find many other references.

Tonya

Hello,

Choosing the right pathogenic organism is important in a project like yours, since you have to make sure that your pathogen of choice actually induces a detectable illness in a reasonable time span. I'm not an expert in insect immunity, but I recently attended a seminar by a friend who studies immunity in Drosophila; according to her they've been getting a "convenient" time course of disease using Providencia rettgeri, Providencia alcalifaciens, Enterococcus faecalis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. (Her name is Sarah Short, you can find her paper's abstract in PubMed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20573620) So these organisms might be good options for you as well.

Best,

Will