An enteric ultrastructural surface atlas of the model insect Manduca sexta
Anton G. Windfelder,
Jessica Steinbart,
Leonie Graser,
Jan Scherberich,
Gabriele A. Krombach,
Andreas Vilcinskas
Affiliations
Anton G. Windfelder
Branch for Bioresources, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Giessen, Germany; Experimental Radiology, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University-Hospital Giessen, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Jessica Steinbart
Experimental Radiology, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University-Hospital Giessen, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Leonie Graser
Branch for Bioresources, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Giessen, Germany
Jan Scherberich
Experimental Radiology, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University-Hospital Giessen, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Gabriele A. Krombach
Experimental Radiology, Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University-Hospital Giessen, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany; Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University-Hospital Giessen, Giessen, Germany
Andreas Vilcinskas
Branch for Bioresources, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Giessen, Germany; Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Department of Applied Entomology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany; Corresponding author
Summary: The tobacco hornworm is a laboratory model that is particularly suitable for analyzing gut inflammation, but a physiological reference standard is currently unavailable. Here, we present a surface atlas of the healthy hornworm gut generated by scanning electron microscopy and nano-computed tomography. This comprehensive overview of the gut surface reveals morphological differences between the anterior, middle, and posterior midgut, allowing the screening of aberrant gut phenotypes while accommodating normal physiological variations. We estimated a total resorptive midgut surface of 0.42 m2 for L5d6 larvae, revealing its remarkable size. Our data will support allometric scaling and dose conversion from Manduca sexta to mammals in preclinical research, embracing the 3R principles. We also observed non-uniform gut colonization by enterococci, characterized by dense biofilms in the pyloric cone and downstream of the pylorus associated with pore and spine structures in the hindgut intima, indicating a putative immunosurveillance function in the lepidopteran hindgut.
