Francisella is sensitive to insect antimicrobial peptides.

ABSTRACT: Francisella tularensis causes the zoonotic disease tularemia. Arthropod vectors are important transmission routes for the disease, although it is not known how Francisella survives the efficient arthropod immune response. Here, we used Drosophila melanogaster as a model host for Francisella infections and investigated whether the bacteria are resistant to insect humoral immune responses, in particular to the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) secreted into the insect hemolymph. Moreover, we asked to what extent such resistance might depend on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structure and surface characteristics of the bacteria. We analyzed Francisella novicida mutant strains in genes, directly or indirectly involved in specific steps of LPS biosynthesis, for virulence in wild-type and Relish(E20) immu

SUBMITTER: Vonkavaara M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6741463 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature