Abstract: Sixthinstar larvae of Tenebrio molitor were treated with different inducing methods including starving, radiating with ultraviolet and pricking, and they all could induce the production of antibacterial substances in hemolymph. The supernate of induced hemolymph not treated with heat had inhibitive effect on fungi, but had no effect on bacteria. When the induced hemolymph was heated, the supernate had inhibitive effect on bacteria, but had no effect on fungi. The result of SDS-PAGE showed the original macromolecular proteins, such as those with molecular weights of 97 kD, 44 kD and 37 kD, disappeared in the induced hemolymph compared with the uninduced one. Moreover, the results of ESI-MS showed micromolecular substances appeared in the hemolymph of the T. molitorlarvae after induction. It was inferred that the disappeared proteins decomposed to micromolecular antibacterial peptides with bactericidal activity.

Key words: Tenebrio molitor larvae, antibacterial proteins, antibacterial peptides, antibacterial activity 