All Things Bugs LLC, Invertebrate Studies Institute, Inc., 2211 Snapper Ln., Oklahoma City, OK 73130, USA.
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, 1515 College, Ave., Manhattan, KS 66502, USA.
Biomolecules. 2023 Mar 24;13(4):589. doi: 10.3390/biom13040589.
The house cricket, , is one of the most farmed insects worldwide and the foundation of an emerging industry using insects as a sustainable food source. Edible insects present a promising alternative for protein production amid a plethora of reports on climate change and biodiversity loss largely driven by agriculture. As with other crops, genetic resources are needed to improve crickets for food and other applications. We present the first high quality annotated genome assembly of from long read data and scaffolded to chromosome level, providing information needed for genetic manipulation. Gene groups related to immunity were annotated and will be useful for improving value to insect farmers. Metagenome scaffolds in the assembly, including Invertebrate Iridescent Virus 6 (IIV6), were submitted as host-associated sequences. We demonstrate both CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-in and knock-out of and discuss implications for the food, pharmaceutical, and other industries. RNAi was demonstrated to disrupt the function of the vermilion eye-color gene producing a useful white-eye biomarker phenotype. We are utilizing these data to develop technologies for downstream commercial applications, including more nutritious and disease-resistant crickets, as well as lines producing valuable bioproducts, such as vaccines and antibiotics.
家蟋蟀，是全球养殖最多的昆虫之一，也是利用昆虫作为可持续食物来源的新兴产业的基础。在气候变化和生物多样性丧失的大量报告中，食用昆虫作为一种有前途的蛋白质生产替代方案，而这些报告在很大程度上是由农业驱动的。与其他作物一样，需要遗传资源来改善蟋蟀的食用和其他用途。我们从长读数据呈现了第一个高质量注释的基因组组装，并将其支架构建到染色体水平，为遗传操作提供了所需的信息。 注释了与免疫相关的基因群，这将有助于提高昆虫养殖者的价值。组装中的宏基因组支架，包括无脊椎动物虹彩病毒 6 (IIV6)，作为宿主相关序列提交。我们展示了 CRISPR/Cas9 介导的敲入和敲除，并讨论了对食品、制药和其他行业的影响。RNAi 被证明可以破坏朱砂眼颜色基因的功能，产生有用的白眼生物标志物表型。我们正在利用这些数据开发下游商业应用的技术，包括更有营养和更能抵抗疾病的蟋蟀，以及生产有价值的生物制品（如疫苗和抗生素）的品系。
