Framework for valorizing waste- and by-products through insects and their microbiomes for food and feed.

One third of the food produced for human consumption is currently lost or wasted. Insects have a high potential for converting organic waste- and by-products into food and feed for a growing human population due to symbiosis with microorganisms. These symbioses provide an untapped reservoir of functional microbiomes that can be used to improve industrial insect production but are poorly studied in most insect species. Here we review the most current understanding and challenges of valorizing organic waste- and by-products through insects and their microbiomes for food and feed, and emerging novel food technologies that can be used to investigate and manipulate host(insects)-microbiome interactions. We further construct a holistic framework, by integration of novel food technologies including holo-omics, genome editing, breeding, phage therapy, and administration of prebiotics and probiotics to investigate and manipulate host(insects)-microbiome interactions, and solutions for achieving stakeholder acceptance of novel food technologies for a sustainable food production.

Who Needs Neighbors? PKS8 Is a Stand-Alone Gene in Fusarium graminearum Responsible for Production of Gibepyrones and Prolipyrone B.

Genome sequencing of the genus Fusarium has revealed a great capacity for discovery of new natural products of potential economical and therapeutic importance. Several of these are unknown. In this study, we investigated the product of the PKS8 gene in Fusarium graminearum, which was recently linked to gibepyrones in F. fujikuroi. Genomic analyses showed that PKS8 constitutes a stand-alone gene in F. graminearum and related species. Overexpression of PKS8 resulted in production of gibepyrones A, B, D, G and prolipyrone B, which could not be detected in the wild type strain. Our results suggest that PKS8 produces the entry compound gibepyrone A, which is subsequently oxidized by one or several non-clustering cytochrome P450 monooxygenases ending with prolipyrone B.