The research group works on insect immunity at molecular, biological and cellular level of commercially useful insects such as honeybees or edible insects.
Diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other insect pathogens can be detrimental for insect mass rearings with significant economic loss. Several factors regulate these outbreaks, but an important role is played by the gut microbiota and by the immunity system.

The study of and the possibility to modulate their interactions aim to avoid the use of antibiotics to safeguard the final consumer. Moreover, the research group investigates the immunity system and the gut microbiota of emerging exotic crop pests, including exotic ones, to highlight the risk related to the establishment of new associations between insects and microorganisms.

Know-how:
insect rearings, characterization of the gut and hemolymph microbiota, molecular identification and quantification of immune genes (e.g. insect antimicrobial peptides, and phenoloxidase), nutritional immunology, culture and analysis of insect immunocytes.

Available resources:
climatic chambers, laboratories equipped for molecular analyses and cell cultures.

Recent results:
The impact of the diet on the immune responses (i.e. expression level of antimicrobial peptide genes) has been highlighted in edible insects.A correlation have been demonstrated between the compartmentalization of bacterial and fungal microbiomes in the gut of adult honeybees and the insect physiological status, in terms of physico-chemical and metabolic conditions. A gut dysbiosis in honey bee, thus an altered proportion among the species belonging to the microbiota of the intestine, has been related among the causes of the syndrome of depopulation of hives. Moreover the gut microbial communities of the exotic insects Drosophila suzukii and Rhynchophorus ferrugineus were also investigated, highlighting the close interconnection between the microbiota and the food source.

• HeMiTool - Hemolymph microbiome of insects: a promising tool to develop innovative strategies to control pests and protect beneficials (PRIN PNRR call 2022, Coordinator).
• InProFarm - Insect probiotic-assisted farming: a promising tool to enhance edible insect health and performances (PRIN call 2022, Head of Research Unit).
• ADVAGROMED - ADVanced AGROecological approaches based on the integration of insect farming with local field practices in MEDiterranean countries (PRIMA call 2021, Participant).
• Interazioni tra insetti vettori e microrganismi simbionti: nuove prospettive per il biocontrollo dei patogeni trasmessi alle piante, agli animali e all'uomo, 2011-2013 (PRIN call 2009).
• Un approccio integrato alla lotta contro la flavescenza dorata della vite, INTEFLAVI 2015-2017 (Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, di Torino, di Asti).
• BioSIn - Economia circolare – biomasse – nuovi prodotti: la bioconversione sostenibile degli insetti, 2018-2020 (Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino).

• Candian, V., Savio, C., Meneguz, M., Gasco, L., Tedeschi, R., 2023. Effect of the rearing diet on gene expression of antimicrobial peptides in Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). Insect Science, 30(4): 933–946.
• Candian, V., Tedeschi, R., 2023. Impact of the diet on the mortality and on gene expression of the antimicrobial peptide Tenecin 3 in Tenebrio molitor larvae Infected by Beauveria bassiana. Insects, 14(4): 359
• Callegari M., Crotti, E., Fusi M., Marasco R., Gonella E., De Noni I., Romano D., Borin S., Tsiamis G., Cherif A., Alma A., Daffonchio D. (2021). Compartmentalization of bacterial and fungal microbiomes in the gut of adult honeybees. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes  7, 42.
• Gonella E., Mandrioli M., Tedeschi R., Crotti E., Pontini M., Alma A. (2019). Activation of immune genes in leafhoppers by phytoplasmas and symbiotic bacteria. Frontiers in Physiology, 10, 795
• Tedeschi R., Monti M., Gonella E., Melchiori G., Alma A., Mandrioli M. (2017). Molecular and cellular analysis of immunity in the phytoplasma vector Euscelidius variegatus: exploiting immunity to improve biological control strategies. Invertebrate Survival Journal 14: 63-72

Prof.ssa Elena Crotti, Università di Milano (Italy)
Prof. Mauro Mandrioli, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia (Italy)
Prof. Daniele Daffonchio, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, BESE Division, Thuwal (Saudi Arabia)
Prof. Oliver Niehuis, Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Freiburg (Germany)
Prof. Ameur Cherif, Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie, Sidi Thabet, Ariana-Tunis (Tunisia)