@BHenzeler's saved articles

Bennett Henzeler

The Huhu grub (P. reticularis), an edible beetle larva endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand, has been traditionally consumed by Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand. The grub undergoes five developmental stages: egg, small larvae, large larvae, pupae and adult (beetle). Among these, the larval stages are considered the most suitable for consumption, with a preference for large larvae due to their size. Our recent study examined the total protein content across different developmental stages, which ranged from 26.2% to 30.5% dry weight (doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2022.104578). Despite its nutritional significance as an excellent source of proteins, little is known about the molecular mechanisms governing its developmental transitions. In this study, we present the first de novo transcriptomic characterization of P. reticularis, a nutritionally valuable edible beetle larva endemic to New Zealand and traditionally consumed by Māori communities. Our work bridges a significant knowledge gap by exploring the developmental transitions between the edible stages in this non-model organism, which until now lacked any genomic or transcriptomic resources. Additionally, we identified an evolutionary relationship between P.reticularis and its close relative (% similarity from clustalo - 84%), the Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis) a known invasive species globally. Through comparative transcriptome analysis of larvae stages, we uncover stage-specific gene expression profiles, notably identifying enhanced protein biosynthesis, mitochondrial targeting and membrane transport processes in large larvae compared to small. We further report a conserved isoleucine-to-phenylalanine mutation in ubiquitin-processing genes - a finding that may hold implications for understanding evolutionarily conserved protein degradation pathways in edible insects. Our study also enriches the genomic landscape of edible insects and advance our understanding of how transcriptomic profiles relate to nutritional potential - an emerging domain in food biotechnology and entomology. This work contributes novel genomic data to a previously uncharacterized species and intersects multiple disciplines, including functional genomics, insect physiology, and sustainable nutrition. These results have broader implications offering a framework for further proteomic and metabolomic studies.