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Review
. 2011 Nov-Dec;2(6):521-7.
doi: 10.4161/viru.2.6.18520.

Drosophila and Galleria insect model hosts: new tools for the study of fungal virulence, pharmacology and immunology

Michail S Lionakis  1
Affiliations
Review

Drosophila and Galleria insect model hosts: new tools for the study of fungal virulence, pharmacology and immunology

Michail S Lionakis. Virulence. 2011 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Over recent years we have witnessed the emergence of several non-vertebrate mini-hosts as alternative pathosystems for the study of fungal disease. These heterologous organisms have unique advantages, as they are economical, ethically expedient, and facile to use. Hence, they are amenable to high-throughput screening studies of fungal genomes for identification of novel virulence genes and of chemical libraries for discovery of new antifungal compounds. In addition, because they have evolutionarily conserved immunity they offer the opportunity to better understand innate immune responses against medically important fungi. In this review, we discuss how the insects Drosophila melanogaster and Galleria mellonella can be employed for the study of various facets of host-fungal interactions as complementary hosts to conventional vertebrate animal models.

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