Microbiology's next top model: Galleria in the molecular age

Dinh, Hue; Semenec, Lucie; Kumar, Sheemal S.; Short, Francesca L.; Cain, Amy K.

doi:10.1093/femspd/ftab006

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Galleria mellonella larvae are an ethical animal model and effective for assaying the virulence capacity of bacterial pathogens, including A. baumannii [71, 72]. Thus, we employed this model to investigate the virulence of our six environmental A.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic and phenotypic analyses of diverse non-clinical Acinetobacter baumannii strains reveals strain-specific virulence and resistance capacity

et al. 2022

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Acinetobacter baumannii is a critically important pathogen known for its widespread antibiotic resistance and ability to persist in hospital-associated environments. Whilst the majority of A. baumannii infections are hospital-acquired, infections from outside the hospital have been reported with high mortality. Despite this, little is known about the natural environmental reservoir(s) of A. baumannii and the virulence potential underlying non-clinical strains. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of six diverse strains isolated from environments such as river, soil, and industrial sites around the world. Phylogenetic analyses showed that four of these strains were unrelated to representative nosocomial strains and do not share a monophyletic origin, whereas two had sequence types belonging to the global clone lineages GC1 and GC2. Further, the majority of these strains harboured genes linked to virulence and stress protection in nosocomial strains. These genotypic properties correlated well with in vitro virulence phenotypic assays testing resistance to abiotic stresses, serum survival, and capsule formation. Virulence potential was confirmed in vivo, with most environmental strains able to effectively kill Galleria mellonella greater wax moth larvae. Using phenomic arrays and antibiotic resistance profiling, environmental and nosocomial strains were shown to have similar substrate utilisation patterns although environmental strains were distinctly more sensitive to antibiotics. Taken together, these features of environmental A. baumannii strains suggest the existence of a strain-specific distinct gene pools for niche specific adaptation. Furthermore, environmental strains appear to be equally virulent as contemporary nosocomial strains but remain largely antibiotic sensitive.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic and phenotypic analyses of diverse non-clinical Acinetobacter baumannii strains reveals strain-specific virulence and resistance capacity

et al. 2022

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“…With this in mind, alternative infection model organisms have been investigated, such as the larvae of the wax moth Galleria mellonella. This has been proven to be an effective model host for infection studies in several microorganisms ( [12][13][14][15] reviewed by [16,17]), including S. pneumoniae [18]. Additionally, larvae can be reared at temperatures ranging from 20 • C to 30 • C and the infection studies can be conducted between 15 • C to above 37 • C, which enables experiments that attempt to mimic a human environment [19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

RNase R, a New Virulence Determinant of Streptococcus pneumoniae

et al. 2022

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Pneumococcal infections have increasingly high mortality rates despite the availability of vaccines and antibiotics. Therefore, the identification of new virulence determinants and the understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind pathogenesis have become of paramount importance in the search of new targets for drug development. The exoribonuclease RNase R has been involved in virulence in a growing number of pathogens. In this work, we used Galleria mellonella as an infection model to demonstrate that the presence of RNase R increases the pneumococcus virulence. Larvae infected with the RNase R mutant show an increased expression level of antimicrobial peptides. Furthermore, they have a lower bacterial load in the hemolymph in the later stages of infection, leading to a higher survival rate of the larvae. Interestingly, pneumococci expressing RNase R show a sudden drop in bacterial numbers immediately after infection, resembling the eclipse phase observed after intravenous inoculation in mice. Concomitantly, we observed a lower number of mutant bacteria inside larval hemocytes and a higher susceptibility to oxidative stress when compared to the wild type. Together, our results indicate that RNase R is involved in the ability of pneumococci to evade the host immune response, probably by interfering with internalization and/or replication inside the larval hemocytes.

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“…Invertebrate hosts, such as Caenorhabditis elegans , Galleria mellonella , and Tenebrio molitor have been used in studies on microbial infection due to advantages like easy commercialization and cultivation in the laboratory ( Dinh et al., 2021 ; Giunti et al., 2021 ; Lozoya-Pérez et al., 2021 ). In addition, body temperature of T. molitor larvae (25-37°C) coincides with the human body temperature at which pathogens of medical importance develop ( Lozoya-Pérez et al., 2021 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%