Identification and Functional Analysis of Antifungal Immune Response Genes in Drosophila

PLoS Pathogens

Li Hua Jin¹  Joon Sun Yoon¹  Byungil Kim¹  Young-Joon Kim¹  Jaewon Shim¹  Jihyun Kim²  Jeongsil Kim-Ha² 

[1] Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea;Department of Molecular Biology, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea

关键词: Immune response;    Fungal diseases;    Hemocytes;    Phagocytosis;    Larvae;    Crystals;    Drosophila melanogaster;    Gene regulation;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1000168

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Essential aspects of the innate immune response to microbial infection appear to be conserved between insects and mammals. Although signaling pathways that activate NF-κB during innate immune responses to various microorganisms have been studied in detail, regulatory mechanisms that control other immune responses to fungal infection require further investigation. To identify new Drosophila genes involved in antifungal immune responses, we selected genes known to be differentially regulated in SL2 cells by microbial cell wall components and tested their roles in antifungal defense using mutant flies. From 130 mutant lines, sixteen mutants exhibited increased sensitivity to fungal infection. Examination of their effects on defense against various types of bacteria and fungi revealed nine genes that are involved specifically in defense against fungal infection. All of these mutants displayed defects in phagocytosis or activation of antimicrobial peptide genes following infection. In some mutants, these immune deficiencies were attributed to defects in hemocyte development and differentiation, while other mutants showed specific defects in immune signaling required for humoral or cellular immune responses. Our results identify a new class of genes involved in antifungal immune responses in Drosophila.

【 授权许可】

CC BY