In vivo correlates of molecularly inferred virulence among extraintestinal pathogenicEscherichia coli(ExPEC) in the wax mothGalleria mellonellamodel system

Host Characteristics and Bacterial Traits Predict Experimental Virulence for Escherichia coli Bloodstream Isolates From Patients With Urosepsis

“…The moth larval lethality model was largely as described [12]. Weekly, a new batch of Galleria mellonella moth larvae (n = 500) was purchased from a local supplier (Vados Bait, Spring Lake Park, MN).…”

“…However, to date, no study has used the same strain set to directly compare experimental virulence with both host characteristics and bacterial traits. In addition, because standard murine infection models pose both ethical and financial challenges, validation of a suitable invertebrate model, such as a recently described moth larva lethality model [12], against an established murine model could facilitate future studies in this area by simplifying the direct virulence assessment of E coli isolates.…”

“…We further characterized these isolates using an updated E coli phylotyping method [19], multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and an expanded virulence gene polymerase chain reaction (PCR) panel, and then we assessed their virulence experimentally using both a murine subcutaneous sepsis model [10] and a wax moth larval lethality model [12]. Next, we sought associations between host characteristics, experimental virulence, and bacterial traits, and we compared the results of the murine and moth larval models.…”

Strengths and Limitations of Model Systems for the Study of Urinary Tract Infections and Related Pathologies

“…Such conservation of function means that information gleaned by analysis of UPEC-associated fitness and virulence factors within one model system may be relevant in other environments. Consequently, the use of surrogate hosts like C. elegans and zebrafish, or even larvae of the wax moth Galleria mellonella (250)(251)(252), is not so tangential to UTI research and has the potential to drive important discoveries in human patients. Findings made by using animal model systems can be complemented and extended in broth culture or on agar plates using genetic and biochemical assays that are designed to examine how UPEC mutants and wild-type strains handle specific stresses such as reactive oxygen species or serum components like complement (197,243).…”

Metamorphosis of Galleria mellonella research

“…For example, ciprofloxacin reduces larval killing by extraintestinal pathogenic (ExPEC) Escherichia coli isolates. 6 These studies demonstrate that G. mellonella is useful for studying virulence factors and antibiotic efficacy, but what about other aspects of pathogenesis? Considering the significant structural and physiological differences between humans and invertebrates, questions remain as to limits of using G. mellonella as a model host.…”