Project description:We infected Drosophila S2 cells (invitrogen) with Drosophila C virus (DCV) (Multiplicity of Infection = 10), and harvested samples for further analysis at 8 and 24 hours post-infection.
Project description:Virus infections induce cellular gene up and down regulation, and these changes often provide clues to cellular pathways utilized by viruses. We used microarrays to examine the transcriptional responses of cultured Drosophila S2 cells to infection with Flock House virus (FHV).
Project description:<p>Viral studies of Drosophila melanogaster typically involve virus injection with a small needle, causing post-injury a wounding/wound healing response, in addition to the effects of viral infection. However, the metabolic response to the needle injury is understudied, and many viral investigations neglect potential effects of this response. Furthermore, the wMel strain of the endosymbiont bacterium Wolbachia pipientis provides anti-viral protection in Drosophila. Here we used NMR-based metabolomics to characterise the acute wounding response in Drosophila and the relationship between wound healing and the Wolbachia strain wMel. The most notable response to wounding was found on the initial day of injury and lessened with time in both uninfected and Wolbachia infected flies. Metabolic changes in injured flies revealed evidence of inflammation, Warburg-like metabolism and the melanisation immune response as a response to wounding. In addition, at five days post injury Wolbachia infected injured flies were metabolically more similar to the uninjured flies than uninfected injured flies were at the same time point, indicating a positive interaction between Wolbachia infection and wound healing. This study is the first metabolomic characterisation of the wound response in Drosophila and its findings are crucial to the metabolic interpretation of viral experiments in Drosophila in both past and future studies.</p>
