Publications

oral candida albicans isolates from hiv-positive individuals have similar in vitro biofilm-forming ability and pathogenicity as invasive candida isolates.	candida can cause mucocutaneous and/or systemic infections in hospitalized and immunosuppressed patients. most individuals are colonized by candida spp. as part of the oral flora and the intestinal tract. we compared oral and systemic isolates for the capacity to form biofilm in an in vitro biofilm model and pathogenicity in the galleria mellonella infection model. the oral candida strains were isolated from the hiv patients and included species of c. albicans, c. glabrata, c. tropicalis, c. par ...	2011	22053894
universal stress proteins are important for oxidative and acid stress resistance and growth of listeria monocytogenes egd-e in vitro and in vivo.	pathogenic bacteria maintain a multifaceted apparatus to resist damage caused by external stimuli. as part of this, the universal stress protein a (uspa) and its homologues, initially discovered in escherichia coli k-12 were shown to possess an important role in stress resistance and growth in several bacterial species.	2011	21980369
PhoP and OxyR transcriptional regulators contribute to Yersinia pestis virulence and survival within Galleria mellonella.	The virulence of Yersinia pestis KIM6+ was compared with multiple isolates of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica toward larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella. Although Y. pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis were able to cause lethal infection in G. mellonella, these species appeared less virulent than the majority of Y. enterocolitica strains tested. Y. pestis survived primarily within hemocytes of G. mellonella, and induced a strong antibacterial peptide response ...	2011	21964409
pre-exposure of galleria mellonella larvae to different doses of aspergillus fumigatus conidia causes differential activation of cellular and humoral immune responses.	larvae of galleria mellonella are useful models for studying the virulence of microbial pathogens or for evaluating the potency of antimicrobial agents. in this work we demonstrated that prior exposure of larvae to non-lethal doses of aspergillus fumigatus conidia increases the resistance of larvae to a lethal dose (1 x 10⁷ 20 μl⁻¹) 24 h later. exposure of larvae to a conidia concentration of 1 x 10⁴ 20 μl⁻¹ leads to an increase in haemocyte density but an inoculum of 1 x 10⁵ conidia leads to en ...	2011	21921688
cryptococcus neoformans capsular enlargement and cellular gigantism during galleria mellonella infection.	we have studied infection of cryptococcus neoformans in the non-vertebrate host galleria mellonella with particular interest in the morphological response of the yeast. inoculation of c. neoformans in caterpillars induced a capsule-independent increase in haemocyte density 2 h after infection. c. neoformans manifested a significant increase in capsule size after inoculation into the caterpillar. the magnitude of capsule increase depended on the temperature, being more pronounced at 37°c than at ...	2011	21915338
galleria mellonella as model host for the trans-kingdom pathogen fusarium oxysporum.	fusarium oxysporum, the causal agent of vascular wilt disease, affects a wide range of plant species and can produce disseminated infections in humans. f. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici isolate fgsc 9935 causes disease both on tomato plants and immunodepressed mice, making it an ideal model for the comparative analysis of fungal virulence on plant and animal hosts. here we tested the ability of fgsc 9935 to cause disease in the greater wax moth galleria mellonella, an invertebrate model host that ...	2011	21907298
The CRP/FNR family protein Bcam1349 is a c-di-GMP effector that regulates biofilm formation in the respiratory pathogen Burkholderia cenocepacia.	Burkholderia cenocepacia is an opportunistic respiratory pathogen that can cause severe infections in immune-compromised individuals and is associated with poor prognosis for patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. The second messenger cyclic diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP) has been shown to control a wide range of functions in bacteria, but little is known about these regulatory mechanisms in B. cenocepacia. Here we investigated the role that c-di-GMP plays in the regulation of biofilm fo ...	2011	21883527
using c60 fullerenes for photodynamic inactivation of mosquito iridescent viruses.	this article describes the photodynamic inactivation of mosquito iridescent virus (miv) aedes flavescens in the presence of water-soluble c(60) fullerenes. it has been observed that the photodynamic inactivation of miv for about 1 h reduces the infectious titre of the virus in large wax-moth larvae galleria mellonella to 4.5 lg id(50)/ml. the influence of the c(60) concentration on its anti-viral activity was tested in the concentration range from 1 to 0.001 mg/ml. it has been found that c(60) i ...	2012	21883040
Effects of associated bacteria on the pathogenicity and reproduction of the insect-parasitic nematode Rhabditis blumi (Nematoda: Rhabditida).	Three bacteria, Alcaligenes faecalis , Flavobacterium sp., and Providencia vermicola , were isolated from dauer juveniles of Rhabditis blumi . The pathogenic effects of the bacteria against 4th instar larvae of Galleria mellonella were investigated. Providencia vermicola and Flavobacterium sp. showed 100% mortality at 48 h after haemocoelic injection, whereas A. faecalis showed less than 30% mortality. Dauer juveniles showed 100% mortality against G. mellonella larvae, whereas axenic juveniles, ...	2011	21867444
hemocyte responses of the colorado potato beetle, leptinotarsa decemlineata, and the greater wax moth, galleria mellonella, to the entomopathogenic nematodes, steinernema feltiae and heterorhabditis bacteriophora.	hemocyte encapsulation reactions of infective juveniles of two iranian isolates of the entomopathogenic nematodes, heterorhabditis bacteriophora poinar (rhabditina: heterorhabditidae) and steinernema feltiae filipjev (tylenchina: steinernematidae), were compared in the economic pest colorado potato beetle, leptinotarsa decemlineata say (coleoptera: chrysomelidae), and the greater wax moth, galleria mellonella l. (lepidoptera: pyralidae). the former was a more responsive host than the latter and ...	2011	21867441
mucoid morphotype variation of burkholderia multivorans during chronic cystic fibrosis lung infection is correlated with changes in metabolism, motility, biofilm formation and virulence.	burkholderia cepacia complex (bcc) bacteria are opportunistic pathogens infecting hosts such as cystic fibrosis (cf) patients. bcc long-term infection of cf patient airways has been associated with emergence of phenotypic variation. here we studied two burkholderia multivorans clonal isolates displaying different morphotypes from a chronically infected cf patient to evaluate traits development during lung infection. expression profiling of mucoid d2095 and nonmucoid d2214 isolates revealed decre ...	2011	21835880
deciphering the multifactorial nature of acinetobacter baumannii pathogenicity.	acinetobacter baumannii is an emerging bacterial pathogen that causes a broad array of infections, particularly in hospitalized patients. many studies have focused on the epidemiology and antibiotic resistance of a. baumannii, but little is currently known with respect to its virulence potential.	2011	21829642
16s rdna-based phylogeny of non-symbiotic bacteria of entorno-pathogenic nematodes from infected insect cadavers.	using 16s rdna gene sequencing technique, three different species of non-symbiotic bacteria of entomopatho-genic nematodes (epns) (steinernema sp. and heterorhabditis sp.) were isolated and identified from infected insect cadavers {galleria mellonella larvae) after 48-hour post infections. sequence similarity analysis revealed that the strains srk3, srk4 and srk5 belong to ochrobactrum cytisi, schineria larvae and ochrobactrum anthropi, respectively. the isolates o. anthropi and s. larvae were f ...	2011	21802047
coronatin-1 isolated from entomopathogenic fungus conidiobolus coronatus kills galleria mellonella hemocytes in vitro and forms potassium channels in planar lipid membrane.	entomopathogenic fungi are important natural regulatory factors of insect populations and have potential as biological control agents of insect pests. the cosmopolitan soil fungus conidiobolus coronatus (entomopthorales) easily attacks galleria mellonella (lepidoptera) larvae. prompt death of invaded insects is attributed to the action of toxic metabolites released by the invader. effect of fungal metabolites on hemocytes, insect blood cells involved in innate defense response, remains underexpl ...	2011	21798278
disruption of haemocyte function by exposure to cytochalasin b or nocodazole increases the susceptibility of galleria mellonella larvae to infection.	administration of non-toxic concentrations (10 µm) of cytochalasin b and nocodazole to larvae of galleria mellonella increased their susceptibility to infection by the yeast candida albicans. these agents were found to inhibit the process of phagocytosis and to reduce the killing ability of haemocytes. in addition, both cytochalasin b and nocodazole reduced the release of antimicrobial peptides (e.g. apolipophorin 3) and enzymes (e.g. serine protease) from pma stimulated haemocytes. rhodamine co ...	2011	21782965
susceptibility of pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm to alpha-helical peptides: d-enantiomer of ll-37.	pseudomonas aeruginosa is a highly versatile opportunistic pathogen and its ability to produce biofilms is a direct impediment to the healing of wounds and recovery from infection. interest in anti-microbial peptides (amps) has grown due to their potential therapeutic applications and their possible use against antibiotic resistant bacteria. ll-37 is the only cathelicidin expressed by humans. in this study, we tested ll-37 and the effect of a protease-resistant ll-37 peptide mimetic, the peptide ...	2011	21772832
insertion of an esterase gene into a specific locust pathogen (metarhizium acridum) enables it to infect caterpillars.	an enduring theme in pathogenic microbiology is poor understanding of the mechanisms of host specificity. metarhizium is a cosmopolitan genus of invertebrate pathogens that contains generalist species with broad host ranges such as m. robertsii (formerly known as m. anisopliae var. anisopliae) as well as specialists such as the acridid-specific grasshopper pathogen m. acridum. during growth on caterpillar (manduca sexta) cuticle, m. robertsii up-regulates a gene (mest1) that is absent in m. acri ...	2011	21731492
galactolipase, phospholipase and triacylglycerol lipase activities in the midgut of six species of lepidopteran larvae feeding on different lipid diets.	galactolipase, phospholipase and triacylglycerol lipase activities were measured from the midgut of six species of lepidopteran larvae, two folivores, epiphyas postvittana (tortricidae) and helicoverpa armigera (noctuidae); two granivores, plodia interpunctella (pyralidae) and ephestia kuehniella (pyrallidae); a presumptive carnivore, galleria mellonella (pyralidae); and a keratinophage, tineola bisselliella (tineidae). galactolipase has not been previously reported in insects. galactolipase and ...	2011	21704634
The effects of dietary nickel on the detoxification enzymes, innate immunity and resistance to the fungus Beauveria bassiana in the larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella.	In this study, we tested the effects of dietary nickel on the activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST), esterases, phenoloxidase, and encapsulation in the haemolymph of larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella. We also explored the effects of dietary nickel on larval resistance to infection by the fungus Beauveria bassiana. Larvae fed a low dose of nickel (10++gg(-1)) had significantly higher GST, phenoloxidase activity and encapsulation responses than controls fed on a nickel-free ...	2011	21676429
a comprehensive transcriptome and immune-gene repertoire of the lepidopteran model host galleria mellonella.	the larvae of the greater wax moth galleria mellonella are increasingly used (i) as mini-hosts to study pathogenesis and virulence factors of prominent bacterial and fungal human pathogens, (ii) as a whole-animal high throughput infection system for testing pathogen mutant libraries, and (iii) as a reliable host model to evaluate the efficacy of antibiotics against human pathogens. in order to compensate for the lack of genomic information in galleria, we subjected the transcriptome of different ...	2011	21663692
the campylobacter jejuni transcriptional regulator cj1556 plays a role in the oxidative and aerobic (o2) stress response and is important for bacterial survival in vivo.	campylobacter jejuni is the leading bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide. despite stringent microaerobic growth requirements, c. jejuni is ubiquitous in the aerobic environment, so must possess regulatory systems to sense and adapt to external stimuli such as oxidative and aerobic (o(2)) stress. re-annotation of the c. jejuni nctc11168 genome sequence identified cj1556 (originally annotated as a hypothetical protein) as a marr family transcriptional regulator and further analysis i ...	2011	21642451
complex of digestive proteinases of galleria mellonella caterpillars. composition, properties, and limited proteolysis of bacillus thuringiensis endotoxins.	the complex of digestive proteinases in caterpillars of the greater wax moth galleria mellonella was studied. using chromogenic substrates and inhibitor analysis, it was found that serine proteinases play a key role in this complex. three anionic and two cationic forms of trypsin and one anionic and one cationic form of chymotrypsin were identified by zymography in the midgut extract of g. mellonella. the most active trypsin was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity, and its n-terminal amino a ...	2011	21639838
wax moth larva (galleria mellonella): an in vivo model for assessing the efficacy of antistaphylococcal agents.	objectives to investigate whether the wax moth larva, galleria mellonella, is a suitable host for assessing the in vivo efficacy of antistaphylococcal agents against staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant s. aureus (mrsa) infections. methods wax moth larvae were infected with increasing doses of s. aureus to investigate the effect of inoculum size on larval survival. in addition, infected wax moth larvae were treated with daptomycin, penicillin or vancomycin to examine whether these age ...	2011	21622972
toxin-binding proteins isolated from yellow mealworm tenebrio molitor and wax moth galleria mellonella.	a 67-kda protein that can specifically bind the activated cry9a endotoxin under ligand-blotting conditions was purified from midgut epithelium apical membranes of wax moth galleria mellonella by affinity chromatography. n-terminal amino acid sequencing enabled identification of this protein as aminopeptidase n. in similar experiments, 66- and 58-kda proteins specific to endotoxin cry3a were isolated from the midgut epithelium apical membranes of tenebrio molitor larvae. mass spectrometry showed ...	2011	21568853
quantitative trait locus (qtl) mapping reveals a role for unstudied genes in aspergillus virulence.	infections caused by the fungus aspergillus are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised populations. to identify genes required for virulence that could be used as targets for novel treatments, we mapped quantitative trait loci (qtl) affecting virulence in the progeny of a cross between two strains of a. nidulans (fgsc strains a4 and a91). we genotyped 61 progeny at 739 single nucleotide polymorphisms (snp) spread throughout the genome, and constructed a linkage map that wa ...	2011	21559404
slya is a transcriptional regulator involved in the virulence of enterococcus faecalis.	phylogenetic analysis of the crystal structure of the enterococcus faecalis slya (ef_3002) transcriptional factor places it between the slya and marr regulator subfamilies. proteins of these families are often involved in the regulation of genes important for bacterial virulence and stress response. to gather evidence for the role of this putative regulator in e. faecalis biology, we dissected the genetic organisation of the slya-ef_3001 locus, and constructed slya deletion mutant as well as com ...	2011	21536798
anti-listeria activities of galleria mellonella hemolymph proteins.	we report the use of antimicrobial hemolymph proteins from the model host galleria mellonella as inhibitor for various listeria strains providing a novel source for anti-listerial therapeutics. we also show that specific virulence-associated genes known to mediate antimicrobial resistance of listeria in mammalian models reciprocated a similar function in galleria.	2011	21531838
identification and characterisation of a novel adhesin ifp in yersinia pseudotuberculosis.	abstract:	2011	21527009
potential of ozone as a fumigant to control pests in honey bee (hymenoptera: apidae) hives.	ozone is a powerful oxidant capable of killing insects and microorganisms, and eliminating odors, taste, and color. thus, it could be useful as a fumigant to decontaminate honey comb between uses. the experiments here are intended to determine the exposure levels required to kill an insect pest and spore forming bee pathogens. ozone was effective against greater wax moth, galleria mellonella (l.) (lepidoptera: pyralidae), even on naturally infested comb. neonates and adults were the easiest life ...	2011	21510179
in vivo efficacy of glycopeptide / colistin combination therapies in a galleria mellonella model of acinetobacter baumannii infection.	the treatment of a. baumannii infections poses a significant clinical challenge with isolates resistant to all commonly used agents increasingly reported. with few new agents in the pipeline clinicians are increasingly turning to combinations of antimicrobials in the hope that they may act synergistically together. in this study we assessed the activity of two glycopeptide/colistin combinations both in vitro and using a galleria mellonella caterpillar model of a. baumannii infection. in checkerb ...	2011	21502628
anti-infective therapeutics from the lepidopteran model host galleria mellonella.	the larvae of the greater wax moth galleria mellonella prosper in use both as surrogate alternative model hosts for human pathogens and as a whole-animal-high-throughput-system for in vivo testing of antibiotics or mutant-libraries of pathogens. in addition, a broad spectrum of antimicrobial peptides and proteins has been identified in this insect during past decade among which some appear to be specific for lepidoptera. its arsenal of immunity-related effector molecules encompasses peptides and ...	2011	21470117
an atomic force microscopy study of galleria mellonella apolipophorin iii effect on bacteria.	apolipophorin iii (apolp-iii) is an abundant hemolymph protein involved in lipid transport and immune response in insects. as revealed by live/dead staining, incubation of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria in the presence of galleria mellonella apolp-iii led to growth inhibition of selected bacteria. an atomic force microscopy (afm) study of bacterial cells after apolp-iii treatment showed considerable alterations in the cell surface of bacillus circulans, klebsiella pneumoniae and salmon ...	2011	21453676
quorum sensing inhibitors increase the susceptibility of bacterial biofilms to antibiotics in vitro and in vivo.	although the exact role of quorum sensing (qs) in various stages of biofilm formation, maturation, and dispersal and in biofilm resistance is not entirely clear, the use of qs inhibitors (qsi) has been proposed as a potential antibiofilm strategy. we have investigated whether qsi enhance the susceptibility of bacterial biofilms to treatment with conventional antimicrobial agents. the qsi used in our study target the acyl-homoserine lactone-based qs system present in pseudomonas aeruginosa and bu ...	2011	21422204
the collagen-binding protein cnm is required for streptococcus mutans adherence to and intracellular invasion of human coronary artery endothelial cells.	streptococcus mutans is considered the primary etiologic agent of dental caries, a global health problem that affects 60 to 90% of the population, and a leading causative agent of infective endocarditis. it can be divided into four different serotypes (c, e, f, and k), with serotype c strains being the most common in the oral cavity. in this study, we demonstrate that in addition to omz175 and b14, three other strains (nctc11060, lm7, and om50e) of the less prevalent serotypes e and f are able t ...	2011	21422186
the effect of habrobracon hebetor venom on the activity of the prophenoloxidase system, the generation of reactive oxygen species and encapsulation in the haemolymph of galleria mellonella larvae.	the cellular and humoral immune reactions in haemolymph of the wax moth galleria mellonella larvae naturally injected by venom of ectoparasitic wasp habrobracon hebetor were analyzed. a strong decline of phenoloxidase (po) activity in the haemolymph and the number of haemocytes with po activity of envenomated wax moth was observed. in addition, it has been shown that the rate of capsule melanization in the envenomated larvae was half that of the control. also production of reactive oxygen specie ...	2011	21419772
host-finding behaviour in the nematode pristionchus pacificus.	costs and benefits of foraging have been studied in predatory animals. in nematodes, ambushing or cruising behaviours represent adaptations that optimize foraging strategies for survival and host finding. a behaviour associated with host finding of ambushing nematode dauer juveniles is a sit-and-wait behaviour, otherwise known as nictation. here, we test the function of nictation by relating occurrence of nictation in pristionchus pacificus dauer juveniles to the ability to attach to laboratory ...	2011	21411455
identification of specific interaction of juvenile hormone binding protein with isocitrate dehydrogenase.	juvenile hormone (jh) is essential for multiple physiological processes: it controls larval development, metamorphosis and adult reproduction. in insect hemolymph more than 99 % of jh is bound to juvenile hormone binding protein (jhbp), which protects jh from degradation by nonspecific hydrolases and serves as a carrier to supply the hormone to the target tissues. in galleria mellonella hemolymph, jhbp is found in a complex with lipid-binding high molecular weight proteins (hmwp) and this intera ...	2011	21403916
contribution of the gas1 gene of the entomopathogenic fungus beauveria bassiana, encoding a putative glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored beta-1,3-glucanosyltransferase, to conidial thermotolerance and virulence.	beauveria bassiana is a mycoinsecticide alternative to chemicals for use in biological pest control. the fungus-insect interaction is also an emerging model system to examine unique aspects of the development, pathogenesis, and diversity of fungal lifestyles. the glycoside hydrolase 72 (gh72) family includes ß-1,3-glucanosyltransferases that are glycosylphosphatidylinositol (gpi)-anchored cell wall-modeling enzymes affecting fungal physiology. a putative b. bassiana gpi-anchored ß-1,3-glucanosyl ...	2011	21357429
european earwig (forficula auricularia) as a novel host for the entomopathogenic nematode steinernema carpocapsae.	the natural history of many entomopathogenic nematode species remains unknown, despite their wide commercial availability as biological control agents. the ambushing entomopathogenic nematode, steinernema carpocapsae, and the introduced european earwig, forficula auricularia, forage on the soil surface. since they likely encounter one another in nature, we hypothesized that earwigs are susceptible to nematode infection. in the laboratory, the lc(50) for f. auricularia was 226 s. carpocapsae/earw ...	2011	21356215
the aspergillus fumigatus toxin fumagillin suppresses the immune response of galleria mellonella larvae by inhibiting the action of haemocytes.	larvae of galleria mellonella are widely used to evaluate microbial virulence and to assess the in vivo efficacy of antimicrobial agents. the aim of this work was to examine the ability of an aspergillus fumigatus toxin, fumagillin, to suppress the immune response of larvae. administration of fumagillin to larvae increased their susceptibility to subsequent infection with a. fumigatus conidia (p?=?0.0052). it was demonstrated that a dose of 2 µg fumagillin ml?¹ reduced the ability of insect immu ...	2011	21349977
juvenile hormone binding protein core promoter is tata-driven with a suppressory element.	the hemolymph juvenile hormone binding protein (jhbp) plays a key role in transporting juvenile hormone (jh) to target tissues and in protecting jh from the degradation by nonspecific esterases. juvenile hormone esterase (jhe) removes jh signal at precisely defined insect developmental stages. the functional analysis of regulatory elements in the core promoter has been described only for the jhe gene. in this report we define the core promoter functional elements in the galleria mellonella jhbp ...	2016	21342666
the influence of chronic eicosanoid biosynthesis inhibition on life history of the greater waxmoth, galleria mellonella and its ectoparasitoid, bracon hebetor.	eicosanoids are oxygenated metabolites of three c20 polyunsaturated fatty acids, mainly arachidonic acid (aa; 20:4n-6), but also 20:3n-6 and 20:5n-3. aside from their importance in biomedicine, eicosanoids act in invertebrate biology. prostaglandins (pgs) influence salt and water transport physiology in insect rectal epithelia and in malpighian tubules. pgs also influence a few insect behaviors, including releasing oviposition behavior and behavioral fever. eicosanoids act in ovarian development ...	2011	21303676
using an insect model to assess correlation between temperature and virulence in bacillus weihenstephanensis and bacillus cereus.	the closely related bacterial species bacillus cereus and bacillus weihenstephanensis are adapted to the mesophilic and the psychrotrophic temperature range, respectively. while b. cereus strains are associated with foodborne diseases, b. weihenstephanensis strains are so far not, although similar virulence genes are found in both species. our investigations show that both species were virulent in the insect model, galleria mellonella, following infection via oral and haemocoel routes. however, ...	2011	21276046
virulence of serotype m3 group a streptococcus strains in wax worms (galleria mellonella larvae).	group a streptococcus (gas) causes human infections that range in severity from pharyngitis ("strep-throat") to necrotizing fasciitis ("flesh-eating disease"). to facilitate investigation of the molecular basis of host-pathogen interactions, infection models capable of rapidly screening for differences in gas strain virulence are needed. to this end, we developed a galleria mellonella larvae (wax worm) model of invasive gas infection and used it to compare the virulence of serotype m3 gas stra ...	2011	21258213
macrophage and galleria mellonella infection models reflect the virulence of naturally occurring isolates of b. pseudomallei, b. thailandensis and b. oklahomensis.	burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of melioidosis, a tropical disease of humans with a variable and often fatal outcome. in murine models of infection, different strains exhibit varying degrees of virulence. in contrast, two related species, b. thailandensis and b. oklahomensis, are highly attenuated in mice. our aim was to determine whether virulence in mice is reflected in macrophage or wax moth larvae (galleria mellonella) infection models.	2011	21241461
elastase b of pseudomonas aeruginosa stimulates the humoral immune response in the greater wax moth, galleria mellonella.	the role of pseudomonas aeruginosa elastase b in activation of the humoral immune response in galleria mellonella larvae was investigated. the results of our study showed that elastase b injected at a sublethal concentration was responsible for eliciting the humoral immune response in g. mellonella larvae. the insects exhibited increased antibacterial activity, namely, we observed appearance of antimicrobial peptides and a higher level of lysozyme in cell-free hemolymph. elastase b seems to be a ...	2011	21236262
galleria mellonella as an infection model for campylobacter jejuni virulence.	larvae of galleria mellonella (greater wax moth) have been shown to be susceptible to campylobacter jejuni infection and our study characterizes this infection model. following infection with c. jejuni human isolates, bacteria were visible in the haemocoel and gut of challenged larvae, and there was extensive damage to the gut. bacteria were found in the extracellular and cell-associated fraction in the haemocoel, and it was shown that c. jejuni can survive in insect cells. finally, we have used ...	2011	21233296
effects of host species, stage and size on the sex ratio and clutch size of the parasitoid, dibrachys boarmiae (walker, 1863) (hymenoptera: pteromalidae).	effects of host species, stage and size on clutch size and sex ratio of the gregarious, idiobiont ectoparasitoid dibrachys boarmiae were investigated at 25±2°c and 70±5% relative humidity. the greater wax moth, galleria mellonella, small wax moth, achroia grisella, and early stage solitary larvae of the endoparasitoid, apanteles galleriae, were used as hosts. clutch size was greatest from prepupae of the largest host, galleria mellonella, with a mean of 40.07 offspring per host versus 14.73 and ...	2011	21208507
yersinia pseudotuberculosis mnth functions in intracellular manganese accumulation that is essential for virulence and survival in cells expressing functional nramp1.	manganese has an important yet undefined role in the virulence of many bacterial pathogens. in this study we confirm that a null mutation in yersinia pseudotuberculosis mnth reduces intracellular manganese accumulation. an mnth mutant was susceptible to killing by reactive oxygen species when grown under manganese limited conditions. the mnth mutant was defective in survival and growth in macrophages expressing functional nramp1, but in macrophages deficient in nramp the bacteria were able to su ...	2010	21183572
methods for using galleria mellonella as a model host to study fungal pathogenesis.	the facile inoculum delivery and handling of the insect galleria mellonella make it a desirable model for the study of fungal pathogenesis. here we present methods to study fungal virulence, filamentation and fungal cell associates with insect hemocytes using candida albicans and cryptococcus neoformans to illustrate the use of this model. the two types of fungi cause distinct infections thus we compare and contrast the infection characteristics observed in g. mellonella. the protocols presented ...	2010	21178491
susceptibility of north-american and european crickets to acheta domesticus densovirus (addnv) and associated epizootics.	the european house cricket, acheta domesticus l., is highly susceptible to a. domesticus densovirus (addnv). commercial rearings of crickets in europe are frequently decimated by this pathogen. mortality was predominant in the last larval stage and young adults. infected a. domesticus were smaller, less active, did not jump as high, and the adult females seldom lived more than 10-14 days. the most obvious pathological change was the completely empty digestive caecae. infected tissues included ad ...	2010	21167171
clpb, a class iii heat-shock gene regulated by ctsr, is involved in thermotolerance and virulence of enterococcus faecalis.	here, we transcriptionally and phenotypically characterized the clpb gene from enterococcus faecalis. northern blot analysis identified a monocistronic mrna strongly induced at 48 and 50 °c. in silico analysis identified that the clpb gene encodes a protein of 868 aa with a predicted molecular mass of approximately 98 kda, presenting two conserved atp-binding domains. sequence analysis also identified a ctsr-binding box upstream of the putative -10 sequence, and inactivation of the ctsr gene res ...	2010	21148206
sequenced dermatophyte strains: growth rate, conidiation, drug susceptibilities, and virulence in an invertebrate model.	although dermatophytes are the most common cause of fungal infections in the world, their basic biology is not well understood. the recent sequencing and annotation of the genomes of five representative dermatophyte species allows for the creation of hypotheses as to how they cause disease and have adapted to their distinct environments. an understanding of the microbiology of these strains will be essential for testing these hypotheses. this study is the first to generally characterize these fi ...	2010	21145410
virulence of an emerging respiratory pathogen, genus pandoraea, in vivo and its interactions with lung epithelial cells.	pandoraea species have emerged as opportunistic pathogens among cystic fibrosis (cf) and non-cf patients. pandoraea pulmonicola is the predominant pandoraea species among irish cf patients. the objective of this study was to investigate the pathogenicity and potential mechanisms of virulence of irish p. pulmonicola isolates and strains from other pandoraea species. three patients from whom the p. pulmonicola isolates were isolated have since died. the in vivo virulence of these and other pandora ...	2010	21127160
myogenic nature of insect heartbeat and intestinal peristalsis, revealed by neuromuscular paralysis caused by the sting of a braconid wasp.	larvae of the greater waxmoth (galleria mellonella) become paralysed by the venom of the braconid wasp (habrobracon hebetor) a few minutes after intoxication. the profound neuromuscular paralysis, which may last for several weeks, includes all somatic muscles that are innervated through neuromuscular transmission. the peristaltic contractions of the heart and intestine, which are regulated by the depolarisation potentials of the myocardium or intestinal epithelial muscles, remain unaffected and ...	2010	21093450
study of peptide fractions from hemolymph of galleria mellonella.	changes in the peptide composition of hemolymph of galleria mellonella larvae induced by their immunization have been studied, and some new peptides have been found. the composition of fractions exhibiting antibacterial activity was investigated. known antibacterial peptides have been found in the hemolymph of control larvae and those immunized with bacteria.	2010	21077837
aspergillus fumigatus acum regulates both iron acquisition and gluconeogenesis.	relatively few transcription factors that govern the virulence of aspergillus fumigatus are known. we constructed 11 a. fumigatus transcription factor mutants and screened them for altered virulence in galleria mellonella larvae. we discovered that the zinc cluster transcription factor, acum, is essential for maximal virulence in this model, as well as in murine models of haematogenously disseminated and invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. transcriptional profiling experiments suggested that acum ...	2010	21062375
high-throughput insertion mutagenesis and functional screening in the entomopathogenic fungus beauveria bassiana.	the entomopathogenic fungus beauveria bassiana displays a broad insect host range and serves as a model for examining host-pathogen interactions. rapid construction and screening of random-insertion mutants of b. bassiana provides a powerful tool to dissect the molecular mechanisms of fungal virulence. liac/dmso treated b. bassiana blastospores were found to be highly competent to transformation using linear dna and a polyethylene glycol-based method. selection on cellophane-layered czapek-dox a ...	2010	21059351
effect of insect cadaver desiccation and soil water potential during rehydration on entomopathogenic nematode (rhabditida: steinernematidae and heterorhabditidae) production and virulence.	we examined the influence of insect cadaver desiccation on the virulence and production of entomopathogenic nematodes (epns), common natural enemies of many soil-dwelling insects. epns are often used in biological control, and we investigated the feasibility of applying epns within desiccated insect cadavers. desiccation studies were conducted using the factitious host, galleria mellonella (lepidoptera: pyralidae, wax moth larvae) and three epn species (heterorhabditis bacteriophora 'hb1', stein ...	2011	21047513
involvement of apolipophorin iii in antibacterial defense of galleria mellonella larvae.	apolipophorin iii (apolp-iii) is an abundant hemolymph protein involved in lipid transport and immune response in insects. we investigated involvement of apolp-iii in the antibacterial response in galleria mellonella larvae. immune challenge with gram-negative (escherichia coli, klebsiella pneumoniae) and gram-positive (micrococcus luteus) bacteria led to an increase in the level of apolp-iii in g. mellonella hemolymph, 0.5-2h and 8h after treatment, respectively. apolp-iii purified from larval ...	2010	20959145
stenotrophomonas maltophilia strains from cystic fibrosis patients: genomic variability and molecular characterization of some virulence determinants.	the genetic relatedness of 52 stenotrophomonas maltophilia strains, collected from various environmental and clinical sources, including cystic fibrosis (cf) patients, as well as the presence and the expression of some virulence-associated genes were studied. pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (pfge) analysis identified 47 profiles and three clusters of isolates with an identical pfge pattern considered to be indistinguishable strains. restriction fragment length polymorphism of the gyrb gene grou ...	2010	20952251
pathogenicity of aspergillus fumigatus mutants assessed in galleria mellonella matches that in mice.	aspergillus fumigatus is a clinically important fungus with the ability to cause invasive aspergillosis with high mortality rates in immunocompromised patients and chronic pulmonary aspergillosis in immunocompetent individuals. virulence of mutants has traditionally been assessed using mammalian hosts such as mice and rats and more recently the fruit fly, drosophila melanogaster, demonstrated the potential to act as an in vivo host suitable for screening aspergillus mutants. in this study using ...	2010	20950221
caspofungin primes the immune response of the larvae of galleria mellonella and induces a non-specific antimicrobial response.	the echinocandins (e.g. caspofungin) function by inhibiting the synthesis of 1,3-β-glucan in the fungal cell wall. while the potent antifungal activity of caspofungin has been well characterized in mammals, this study investigated the in vivo antifungal effect of caspofungin using larvae of the insect galleria mellonella. caspofungin was successful in increasing the survival of larvae that were inoculated with candida albicans 1&emsp14;h before the drug was administered, particularly when a conc ...	2010	20947665
galleria mellonella are resistant to pneumocystis murina infection.	studying pneumocystis has proven to be a challenge from the perspective of propagating a significant amount of the pathogen in a facile manner. the study of several fungal pathogens has been aided by the use of invertebrate model hosts. our efforts to infect the invertebrate larvae galleria mellonella with pneumocystis proved futile since p. murina neither caused disease nor was able to proliferate within g. mellonella. it did, however, show that the pathogen could be rapidly cleared from the ho ...	2011	20922567
comparison of the regulation, metabolic functions, and roles in virulence of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase homologues gapa and gapb in staphylococcus aureus.	the gram-positive bacterium staphylococcus aureus contains two glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh) homologues known as gapa and gapb. gapa has been characterized as a functional gapdh protein, but currently there is no biological evidence for the role of gapb in metabolism in s. aureus. in this study we show through a number of complementary methods that s. aureus gapa is essential for glycolysis while gapb is essential in gluconeogenesis. these proteins are reciprocally regulated i ...	2010	20876289
dietary choices by four captive slender lorises (loris tardigradus) when presented with various insect life stages.	the slender loris (loris tardigradus) is a rare, nocturnal prosimian found only in the tropical rainforest of southern india and sri lanka. little is known about their diet, though it is assumed that insects comprise a majority of their wild diet. based on this assumption, captive lorises are offered a variety of insects or insect life stages; the species of insect or the life stage is often determined by what is easiest to buy or rear. captive lorises at the duke lemur center (dlc) were offered ...	2015	20872876
characterization of kunitz-type protease inhibitor purified from hemolymph of galleria mellonella larvae.	we characterized a kunitz-type protease inhibitor (gm ktpi) obtained from the hemolymph of galleria mellonella larvae immunized with escherichia coli. the structural analysis of the cloned cdna showed that it consists of 56 residues derived from the precursor of 75 amino acids. the peptide was constitutively produced in the fat bodies, but not in the midgut nor the integument of larvae. in our analysis of stage-dependent expression, its transcript was detected within the midgut, the fat bodies a ...	2010	20826210
virulence in an insect model differs between mating types in aspergillus fumigatus.	aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that has recently been found to undergo sexual reproduction. previous work suggested that invasiveness differs between mating types, and in the present study we tested whether virulence differs between mating types in an in vivo model, i.e., larvae of the wax moth galleria mellonella. we measured virulence of 20 a. fumigatus isolates; three mat1-1 isolates of environmental origin, five mat1-1 isolates of clinical origin, seven mat1-2 isol ...	2011	20818921
the effect of tween 80 on eggshell permeabilization in galleria mellonella (l.) (lepidoptera, pyralidae).	the development of a species-specific protocol for dechorionation and permeabilization of insect eggs is a necessary prerequisite to cryopreserve the embryos. here we tested different procedures based on heptane or the surfactant tween 80 as an alternative to alkane, evaluating their efficacy and toxicity on the early (24 h post-oviposition) and late (75 h post-oviposition) stage embryos. heptane efficiently permeabilized the eggs of g. mellonella but the hatching rate ranged from 0.1 to 4.2 per ...	2015	20818457
proteolytic enzyme production by strains of the insect pathogen xenorhabdus and characterization of an early-log-phase-secreted protease as a potential virulence factor.	as a comparison to a similar study on photorhabdus strains, 15 xenorhabdus bacterial strains and secondary phenotypic variants of two strains were screened for proteolytic activity by five detection methods. although the number and intensity of proteolytic activities were different, every strain was positive for proteolytic activity by several tests. zymography following native page detected two groups of activities with different substrate affinities and a higher and lower electrophoretic mobil ...	2010	20802071
structure of penaeus stylirostris densovirus, a shrimp pathogen.	penaeus stylirostris densovirus (pstdnv), a pathogen of penaeid shrimp, causes significant damage to farmed and wild shrimp populations. in contrast to other parvoviruses, pstdnv probably has only one type of capsid protein that lacks the phospholipase a2 activity that has been implicated as a requirement during parvoviral host cell infection. the structure of recombinant virus-like particles, composed of 60 copies of the 37.5-kda coat protein, the smallest parvoviral capsid protein reported thu ...	2010	20702621
[study of peptide content of antibacterial fractions by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry].	the fractions containing antimicrobic peptides have been purified from a haemolymph of caterpillars galleria mellonella by chromatographic methods and studied by mass spectrometry.	2010	20695218
molecular pathogenesis of listeria monocytogenes in the alternative model host galleria mellonella.	larvae of galleria mellonella, the greater wax moth, provide an alternative infection model for many human pathogens as they are amenable to use at elevated incubation temperatures (37&emsp14;°c). this study and a parallel study by mukherjee et al. [mukherjee, k., altincicek, b., hain, t., domann, e., vilcinskas, a. & chakraborty, t. (2010). appl environ microbiol 76, 310-317] establish this insect host as an appropriate model to investigate the pathogenesis of listeria species. in this study we ...	2010	20688820
screening of in vivo activated genes in enterococcus faecalis during insect and mouse infections and growth in urine.	enterococcus faecalis is part of the commensal microbiota of humans and its main habitat is the gastrointestinal tract. although harmless in healthy individuals, e. faecalis has emerged as a major cause of nosocomial infections. in order to better understand the transformation of a harmless commensal into a life-threatening pathogen, we developed a recombination-based in vivoexpression technology for e. faecalis. two r-ivet systems with different levels of sensitivity have been constructed in a ...	2010	20686694
insect-toxic secreted proteins and virulence of the entomopathogenic fungus beauveria bassiana.	fungal virulence has been mostly associated with cuticle-degrading enzymes that can be regulated depending on nutrient conditions. however, few studies have related fungal virulence to insect-toxic secreted proteins. here, we describe how the presence of secreted toxic proteins may be linked to conidial virulence, which can be affected by nutrient factors. in this study we evaluated: (1) the virulence of the conidia of four beauveria bassiana strains (eabb 01/103-su, eabb 01/12-su, eabb 01/88-su ...	2010	20674578
zinc and silver glass polyalkenoate cements: an evaluation of their antibacterial nature.	a biofilm is an accumulation of micro-organisms and their extracellular products forming a structured community on a surface. biofilm formation on medical devices has severe health consequences as bacteria growing in this lifestyle are tolerant to both host defence mechanisms and antibiotic therapies. however, silver and zinc ions inhibit the attachment and proliferation of immature biofilms. the objective of this study is to evaluate whether silver and zinc ions eluted from novel glass polyalke ...	2010	20592447
the role of iron uptake in pathogenicity and symbiosis in photorhabdus luminescens tt01.	photorhabdus are gram negative bacteria that are pathogenic to insect larvae whilst also having a mutualistic interaction with nematodes from the family heterorhabditis. iron is an essential nutrient and bacteria have different mechanisms for obtaining both the ferrous (fe2+) and ferric (fe3+) forms of this metal from their environments. in this study we were interested in analyzing the role of fe3+ and fe2+ iron uptake systems in the ability of photorhabdus to interact with its invertebrate hos ...	2010	20569430
role of methionine sulfoxide reductases a and b of enterococcus faecalis in oxidative stress and virulence.	methionine sulfoxide reductases a and b are antioxidant repair enzymes that reduce the s- and r-diastereomers of methionine sulfoxides back to methionine, respectively. enterococcus faecalis, an important nosocomial pathogen, has one msra gene and one msrb gene situated in different parts of the chromosome. promoters have been mapped and mutants have been constructed in two e. faecalis strains (strains jh2-2 and v583) and characterized. for both backgrounds, the mutants are more sensitive than t ...	2010	20566694
a different repertoire of galleria mellonella antimicrobial peptides in larvae challenged with bacteria and fungi.	to date, functioning of insect humoral immune response is especially well described in diptera. the mechanisms of pathogen recognition, activation of signaling pathways and regulation of antimicrobial defense peptide expression are relatively well known. the present paper demonstrates evidence that the immune system of the lepidoptera moth, galleria mellonella, is also able to distinguish between different classes of microorganisms and responds to the invading pathogen accordingly. g. mellonella ...	2010	20558200
two novel point mutations in clinical staphylococcus aureus reduce linezolid susceptibility and switch on the stringent response to promote persistent infection.	staphylococcus aureus frequently invades the human bloodstream, leading to life threatening bacteremia and often secondary foci of infection. failure of antibiotic therapy to eradicate infection is frequently described; in some cases associated with altered s. aureus antimicrobial resistance or the small colony variant (scv) phenotype. newer antimicrobials, such as linezolid, remain the last available therapy for some patients with multi-resistant s. aureus infections. using comparative and func ...	2010	20548948
an insect multiligand recognition protein functions as an opsonin for the phagocytosis of microorganisms.	we characterize a novel pathogen recognition protein obtained from the lepidopteran galleria mellonella. this protein recognizes escherichia coli, micrococcus luteus, and candida albicans via specific binding to lipopolysaccharides, lipoteichoic acid, and beta-1,3-glucan, respectively. as a multiligand receptor capable of coping with a broad variety of invading pathogens, it is constitutively produced in the fat body, midgut, and integument but not in the hemocytes and is secreted into the hemol ...	2010	20519517
[comparison of the results of research of hemolymph immunized and nonimmunized of larvae of galleria mellonella].	this work deals with the antibacterial activity of larvae of galleria mellonella. protein fractions with antibacterial activity have been purified from hemolymph by ion-exchange chromatography and gel-electrophoresis. the mass-spectrometric analysis of fractions showed the presence of a peptide of 5627 da. probably, this peptide determines the antibacterial activity of hemolymph.	2014	20469719
photorhabdus adhesion modification protein (pam) binds extracellular polysaccharide and alters bacterial attachment.	photorhabdus are gram-negative nematode-symbiotic and insect-pathogenic bacteria. the species photorhabdus asymbiotica is able to infect humans as well as insects. we investigated the secreted proteome of a clinical isolate of p. asymbiotica at different temperatures in order to identify proteins relevant to the infection of the two different hosts.	2010	20462430
a pathogenic parasite interferes with phagocytosis of insect immunocompetent cells.	phagocytosis activity of hemocytes of the host galleria mellonella (lepidoptera) was modulated by the infection of the entomopathogenic nematode steinernema feltiae (rahbditida) and was found to be correlated with the opsonization of bacteria by hemolymph factors. the presence of nematodes resulted in a significative decrease in phagocytosis of bacteria by host hemocytes, both in in vivo and in in vitro assays. host interacting proteins (hips), which appear to function as opsonic factors and are ...	2010	20457179
[characterization of proteo-, chitino- and lipolytic enzymes of parasitic fungus conidiobolus coronatus].	the largest problem in limitation of insect pest population is increasing resistance of them to chemical pesticides. alternative are entomopathogens, which regulate frequency of insect pests. among them decisive role play entomopathogenic fungi, which possess the ability to active penetration through cuticle by mechanical pressure of invasive hypha and production of proteo-, chitino- (egzo- and endochitinases) as well as lipolytic enzymes, which provide nutrients for subsequent development of fu ...	2010	20450015
biochemical study and in vitro insect immune suppression by a trypsin-like secreted protease from the nematode steinernema carpocapsae.	a trypsin-like serine protease was purified by gel filtration and anion-exchange chromatography from the excretory-secretory products of parasitic phase steinernema carpocapsae. the purified protease exhibited a molecular mass of about 29 kda by sds-page and displayed a pi of 6.3. this protease exhibited high activity with trypsin-specific substrate n-ben-phe-val-arg-p-nitroanilide and was highly sensitive to aprotinin and benzamidine. the purified trypsin protease digested the chromogenic subst ...	2010	20398179
suitability of different lepidopteran host species for development of bracon hebetor (hymenoptera: braconidae).	bracon hebetor say (hymenoptera: braconidae) is a gregarious larval ectoparasitoid of several species of lepidoptera that are associated with stored products. the suitability of 12 potential lepidopteran host species representing four families was studied in this study for the development and reproduction of b. hebetor. the lepidoptera species used were the indianmeal moth, plodia interpunctella (hübner), mediterranean flour moth, ephestia kuehniella (zeller), almond moth, e. cautella (walker), ...	2010	20388274
activation of insect phenoloxidase after injury: endogenous versus foreign elicitors.	the enzyme phenoloxidase (po) is one of the first immune molecules that was identified in invertebrates. recently, the immune function of po has been challenged. we tested how po is activated following injury in 2 insects, i.e. the fruit fly drosophila melanogaster and the wax moth galleria mellonella. rapid po activation in drosophila was limited to discrete areas of the hemolymph clot which forms after injury. surprisingly, unlike systemic po activation during bacterial sepsis, clot melanizati ...	2009	20375588
effect of gamma-irradiation on the biology and ultrastructure of haemocytes of greater wax moth, galleria mellonella (l.) (lepidoptera: galleridae).	this study was carried out on fully grown pupae of greater wax moth, galleria mellonella l., gamma-irradiated to 100, 150, 300 and 400gy. the four doses given to male parents in the f(1) generation decreased the average number of eggs per mated female, the percentage of egg hatching and the percentage of mating in both the male and female lines; the effects increased with the dose. dose dependence of the reduction in the fecundity and the percentage of egg hatching among the female line pairings ...	2010	20363640
[generation of reactive oxygen species and activity of antioxidants in larva hemolymph of galleria mellonella (l.) (lepidoptera: piralidae) at development of process of encapsulation].	activities of enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase, glutathione-s-transferase, and catalase) have been determined in hemocytes and generation of reactive oxygen species (ros) has been studied in lymph of larvae of the wax moth galleria mellonella at development of the process of encapsulation of nylon implants. it has been established that as soon as 15 min after piercing of cuticle with implant the capsule is formed on its surface. the active melanization of the capsule has been shown t ...	2010	20297667
[not available].		1947	20268198
antibiotic action of an extract of galleria mellonella.		1947	20239738
role of filamentation in galleria mellonella killing by candida albicans.	candida albicans is an important cause of morbidity in hospitalized and immunosuppressed patients. virulence factors of c. albicans include: filamentation, proteinases, adherence proteins and biofilm formation. the objective of this work was to use galleria mellonella as a model to study the roles of c. albicans filamentation in virulence. we focused our study to five genes bcr1, flo8, kem1, suv3 and tec1 that have been shown to play a role in filamentation. filaments are necessary for biofilm f ...	2010	20223293
temperature effect on novel entomopathogenic nematode steinernema siamkayai stock, somsook and reid (n. sp.) and its efficacy against spodoptera litura fabricius (lepidoptera: noctuidae).	the efficacy of steinernema siamkayai is a new species that isolate in thailand and the well known previous species are steinernema carpocapsae and steinernema riobrave against 3rd instar larvae of common cutworm, spodoptera litura, and last instar larvae of greater wax moth, galleria mellonella was evaluated under laboratory condition. the optimal temperature for new entomopathogenic nematode, s. siamkayai at 50 and 100 ijs per larvae to penetrate into s. litura and g. mellonella larvae were hi ...	2009	20222622
kairomonal response of the parasitoid, bracon hebetor say, to the male-produced sex pheromone of its host, the greater waxmoth, galleria mellonella (l.).	bracon hebetor is a larval ectoparasitoid that utilizes several pests belonging to the family pyralidae (lepidoptera) as hosts. in the present study, we analyzed the kairomonal response of this wasp to the male-produced sex pheromone of a host, the greater wax moth galleria mellonella, an economically important pest of honeybees, apis mellifera. coupled gas chromatography-electroantennographic detection (gc-ead) revealed three compounds in headspace collections from male g. mellonella that elici ...	2010	20155500
eicosanoids mediate hemolymph oxidative and antioxidative response in larvae of galleria mellonella l.	antioxidant enzymes play a major role in the defense against pro-oxidative effects of xenobiotics and pro-oxidant plant allelochemicals in insects. we posed the hypothesis that eicosanoids also mediate antioxidant enzymatic defense reactions to pro-oxidant challenge. to test this idea, we reared first-instar larvae of galleria mellonella (l.) with the lypoxygenase inhibitor, esculetin (0.001%), the phospholipase a(2) inhibitor, dexamethasone (0.001%) and the dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase and ...	2010	20138233
identification of an abundant allergen from the sheep louse, bovicola ovis.	infestation of sheep with the louse bovicola ovis is common worldwide and leads to an allergic dermatitis referred to as 'scatter cockle'. ige from an infested lamb was used in immunoaffinity chromatography to purify allergens from crude preparations of whole b. ovis and its faeces. sds-page of the affinity-purified eluates from both preparations showed a dominant band with m(r) of 28.5 kda. spleen cells from a mouse immunised with b. ovis faecal antigens were used to produce hybridomas which we ...	2010	20123101
insect infection model for campylobacter jejuni reveals that o-methyl phosphoramidate has insecticidal activity.	galleria mellonella (wax moth) larvae have elsewhere been shown to be susceptible to pathogens such as francisella tularensis, burkholderia mallei, and pseudomonas aeruginosa. we report that the larvae are rapidly killed by campylobacter jejuni at 37c. three strains of c. jejuni tested, 11168h (human diarrheal isolate), g1 (human guillain-barré syndrome isolate), and 81-176 (human diarrheal isolate), were equally effective at killing g. mellonella larvae. a panel of defined mutants of c. jejuni ...	2010	20113177
functional analysis of four processing products from multiple precursors encoded by a lebocin-related gene from manduca sexta.	antimicrobial peptides (amps) are a crucial component of the natural immune system in insects. five types of amps have been identified in the tobacco hornworm manduca sexta, including attacin, cecropin, moricin, gloverin, and lebocin. here we report the isolation of lebocin-related cdna clones and antibacterial activity of their processed protein products. the 17 cdna sequences are composed of a constant 5' end and a variable 3' region containing 3-16 copies of an 81-nucleotide repeat. the seque ...	2010	20096726
does scavenging extend the host range of entomopathogenic nematodes (nematoda: steinernematidae)?	living and freeze-killed natural and laboratory hosts, with different susceptibility to entomopathogenic nematodes, were exposed to the larvae of steinernema affine and steinernema kraussei in two different experimental arenas (eppendorf tubes, petri dishes), and the success of the colonisation and eventual progeny production were observed. both nematodes were able to colonise both living and dead larvae of galleria mellonella (lepidoptera) and adult blatella germanica (blattodea) even though th ...	2010	20085768