Contrasting infection strategies in generalist and specialist wasp parasitoids of Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Although host-parasitoid interactions are becoming well characterized at the organismal and cellular levels, much remains to be understood of the molecular bases for the host immune response and the parasitoids' ability to defeat this immune response. Leptopilina boulardi and L. heterotoma, two closely related, highly infectious natural parasitoids of Drosophila melanogaster, appear to use very different infection strategies at the cellular level. Here, we further characterize cellular level differences in the infection characteristics of these two wasp species using newly derived, virulent inbred strains, and then use whole genome microarrays to compare the transcriptional response of Drosophila to each. While flies attacked by the melanogaster group specialist L. boulardi (strain Lb17) u

SUBMITTER: Schlenke TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2042021 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature