Interactions between pathogens infecting crickets: who paves the way for the other?

The demand for sustainable food and feed sources is increasing. Insects are a good candidate to solve this issue. However, industrial scale insect rearing suffers losses due to pathogens. The house cricket Acheta domesticus is a promising candidate for food and feed purposes, however insect pathogens can cause epizootics in the rearing. The A. domesticus densovirus (AdDV) caused serious losses in production. The virus is present in most known A. domesticus stocks, but mostly in a covert state. Co-infection with other bacterial and fungal entomopathogens and abiotic stresses can be the triggers of the virulence for AdDV. The effects of single and co-infections on A. domesticus fitness will be measured along with possible antagonistic or synergistic effects of the pathogens on each other. Immune responses to the single and co-infections by A. domesticus will be also examined.