Venom from the endoparasitic wasp Pimpla hypochondriaca adversely affects the morphology, viability, and immune function of hemocytes from larvae of the tomato moth, Lacanobia oleracea.

During oviposition, the endoparasitic wasp Pimpla hypochondriaca injects its pupal hosts with venom. This complex fluid has toxic properties and recently several venom components were characterized. In addition, it was suggested that venom might be involved in host immune suppression. For this to be the case, venom would have to adversely affect hemocytes and this aspect was further addressed in the current study utilizing the larval stage of the tomato moth Lacanobia oleracea as a model system. Using sublethal venom injections we investigated the effects of venom on encapsulation and hemocyte concentration. Additionally, the effects of venom on hemocyte morphology, viability, and phagocytic capability were determined in vitro. Injection of 16 microg of venom protein into sixth instar larvae was sufficient to reduce the ability of hemocytes to encapsulate Sephadex A25 beads by more than 50% in four of five insects examined. Hemocyte concentration in sixth instar larvae 32 h after injection with 16 microg of venom was reduced by 56% compared to that in controls. Damaged hemocytes and cell debris were also observed in hemolymph from venom-treated insects, suggesting that P. hypochondriaca venom has cytotoxic properties. In vitro incubation of washed hemocytes for 20 h with 500 ng/microl venom resulted in disintegration of a high proportion of hemocytes, leaving only parts of the plasma membrane and nucleus intact. Treatment with low concentrations of venom (1.6 ng/microl) resulted in an absence of spread plasmatocytes, which were abundant on control monolayers. High-resolution microscopy of hemocyte cultures exposed to 320 ng/microl venom for 3.5 h on glass slides indicated that venom induced a variety of effects on cellular morphology, including blebbing of the plasma membrane, degranulation, and the formation of cytoplasmic vacuoles. Incubation of hemocytes with 320, 64, or 3.2 ng/microl venom for 3.5 h reduced cell viability to 70, 90, and 92%, respectively, confirming that venom is cytotoxic to hemocytes. Treatment with 320 ng/microl venom reduced the capacity of hemocytes to phagocytose Escherichia coli by 85%. Together, these results demonstrate that at sublethal doses venom has a potent anti-hemocyte action and can impair hemocyte-mediated immune responses.