Wang Shaozhen, Kou Zongqing, Jiang Yuguo, Tomberlin Jeffery K, Zhang Wei, Wang Shuting, Huang Yongping
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Commun Biol. 2025 Aug 6;8(1):1164. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08571-1.
The black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens, has garnered attention for its proficiency in converting organic waste into valuable biomass. In the context of rapid population growth and urbanization, BSF with higher bioconversion efficiency is in urgent need. One promising approach to improve the efficiency is generating new lines by molecular breeding, which has succeeded in plants and various livestock. Here, we developed a BSF strain with an enhanced bioconversion efficiency using CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing. By knocking out the gene giant (gt) in BSF, we obtained individuals with larger size and higher reproductive capacity. Notably, the mutant strain increased the bioconversion efficiency of food waste by 13.10%, and exhibited consistent performance across diverse organic waste substrates. In addition, our study elucidates multifaceted roles of gt in larval growth and developmental plasticity. Moreover, mutants showed reduced reproductive competitiveness against WT in mixed populations. In conclusion, our study provides a superior and safe insect chassis for biomanufacturing and underscores the potential of molecular breeding to enhance efficiency in BSF farming for sustainable organic waste recycling.
黑水虻（Hermetia illucens）因其能高效地将有机废物转化为有价值的生物质而备受关注。在人口快速增长和城市化的背景下，迫切需要具有更高生物转化效率的黑水虻。一种提高效率的有前景的方法是通过分子育种培育新的品系，这在植物和各种家畜中已取得成功。在此，我们利用CRISPR/Cas9介导的基因组编辑技术开发了一种生物转化效率更高的黑水虻品系。通过敲除黑水虻中的巨基因（gt），我们获得了体型更大、繁殖能力更强的个体。值得注意的是，突变品系将食物垃圾的生物转化效率提高了13.10%，并且在各种有机废物底物上均表现出一致的性能。此外，我们的研究阐明了gt在幼虫生长和发育可塑性方面的多方面作用。此外，在混合种群中，突变体相对于野生型表现出较低的生殖竞争力。总之，我们的研究为生物制造提供了一种优质且安全的昆虫底盘，并强调了分子育种在提高黑水虻养殖效率以实现可持续有机废物回收方面的潜力。
