Hemocyte response to chemoattractants and wounding in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta

Hemocyte response to various injured tissues and hemocyte injury are essential in fully understanding insect immune response. This project is comprised of two parts. One, it is well known that hemocytes respond to injury or wounding. Hemocyte chemotaxis will be investigated in response to tissue injury. A study of various selected tissues including midgut tissue, malpighian tubules, fat body, whole body, and cuticle will be performed to determine to what extent hemocytes will chemotax when these tissues are damaged. Two, Serratia marcescens will be added to hemocytes and used as a chemoattractant to determine to what extent healthy hemocytes will chemotax towards cells that are facing a bacterial challenge. The results of this project are presented herein.