Black soldier fly (BSF): a source of antimicrobial peptides

Hermetia illucens, commonly known as Black Soldier Fly (BSF) survives on waste decaying matter in presence of abundant pathogenic bacteria. It metamorphoses in stages like egg, larva, pupa and adult. The BSF sustains in optimal space, temperature, light and humidity. Since it resides admist the pathogenic environment, it features variety of antimicrobial peptides including defensins, cecropins, attacins, diptericins etc. Different mechanisms used by these AMP’s to target bacterial membrane include toroidal pore model, carpet like model and barrel stave model whereas non membrane targeting mechanisms include inhibition of protein biosynthesis, nucleic acid biosynthesis, protease activity and cell division. The activity of the AMP depends on the environmental factors like metal ions, pH, proteases, salt concentrations and temperature. These peptides have ability to kill various pathogenic microbes like Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp., E. coli, Candida albicans etc. These AMP’s are extracted by the processes of immunization of larvae followed by extraction of AMPs. The extracted peptides are then purified and stored. The AMPs from BSF will have potential applications across various fields of medicine, agriculture and food industries due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties.