A specific innate immune response silences the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a latent infection model in the Drosophila melanogaster host.

ABSTRACT: Microbial pathogenicity often depends on the route of infection. For instance, P. aeruginosa or S. marcescens cause acute systemic infections when low numbers of bacteria are injected into D. melanogaster flies whereas flies succumb much slower to the continuous ingestion of these pathogens, even though both manage to escape from the gut compartment and reach the hemocoel. Here, we have developed a latent P. aeruginosa infection model by feeding flies on the bacteria for a short period. The bacteria stably colonize internal tissues yet hardly cause any damage since latently-infected flies live almost as long as noninfected control flies. The apparently dormant bacteria display particular characteristics in terms of bacterial colony morphology, composition of the outer cell wall, and motili

SUBMITTER: Chen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11178223 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature