Functional consequences of blood clotting in insects

Recent in vitro studies have revealed several important aspects of the biochemical and cellular processes involved in insect blood clotting. However, in vivo empirical studies of the functional consequences of clotting are lacking, despite the role of coagulation in wound-healing, preventing infection, and its homology with vertebrate wound repair. Here we present results of the in vivo effects of haemolymph coagulation and its consequences on the spatial disposition of immune activity, in the American cockroach Periplaneta americana. Our results demonstrate that clotting: (1) localises immune effectors in the vicinity of a breach of the cuticle; (2) restricts the spread of invasive particles across the haemocoel, and (3) is greater when wounding is associated with non-self. Our results demonstrate that haemolymph coagulation has major functional consequences, the most important of which is the compartmentalisation of the open haemocoel.