Immulectin-2 from the ghost moth, Thitarodes xiaojinensis (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae), modulates cellular and humoral responses against fungal infection.

C type-lectins constitute a large family of pattern recognition receptors, playing important roles in insect immune defenses. Thitarodes xiaojinensis larvae showed distinct immune features after Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Cordyceps militaris, or Beauveria bassiana infection. Based on transcriptome and immunoblot analysis, we found that immulectin-2 (IML2) was induced after T.

Distinct Responses of β-1,3-Glucan Recognition Protein-1 and Immulectin-8 to and Infection.

Melanization and encapsulation are prominent defense responses against microbes detected by pattern recognition receptors of their host insects. In the ghost moth , an activated immune system can melanize and encapsulate the fungus However, these responses were hardly detected in the host hemolymph postinfection of another fungus The immune interaction between and the host remains largely unknown, which hinders the artificial cultivation of Chinese cordyceps. We found that β-1,3-glucan recognition protein-1 (βGRP1) was needed for prophenoloxidase activation induced by Failure of βGRP1 to recognize is a primary reason for the lack of melanization in the infected host.