Fat Body—Multifunctional Insect Tissue

Abstract

The biodiversity of useful organisms, e.g., insects, decreases due to many environmental factors and increasing anthropopressure. Multifunctional tissues, such as the fat body, are key elements in the proper functioning of invertebrate organisms and resistance factors. The fat body is the center of metabolism, integrating signals, controlling molting and metamorphosis, and synthesizing hormones that control the functioning of the whole body and the synthesis of immune system proteins. In fat body cells, lipids, carbohydrates and proteins are the substrates and products of many pathways that can be used for energy production, accumulate as reserves, and mobilize at the appropriate stage of life (diapause, metamorphosis, flight), determining the survival of an individual. The fat body is the main tissue responsible for innate and acquired humoral immunity. The tissue produces bactericidal proteins and polypeptides, i.e., lysozyme. The fat body is also important in the early stages of an insect’s life due to the production of vitellogenin, the yolk protein needed for the development of oocytes. Although a lot of information is available on its structure and biochemistry, the fat body is an interesting research topic on which much is still to be discovered.