Study of TEP3 gene in Drosophila melanogaster and its immune response to entomopathogenic nematodes
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | Entomopathogenic nematodes are insect parasites that form a symbiotic relationship with Gram negative bacteria and together they seek suitable hosts. There is still a lack of knowledge about the biological interactions between nematodal parasite and insect host, for instance we still do not know which molecules are responsible for the host immune response to nematode infection. To better understand these defense mechanisms, the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is successfully used as study model since it is an excellent genetic tool. It can help us in understanding the molecular mechanisms of immune response and identification of key genes as well as their function. It has been proposed that thioester-containing proteins (TEPs) can play an important role in pathogen recognition, but their exact role in immune response is still unclear. In previous studies it has been shown that Drosophila TEP3 mutants are more susceptible to nematode infections. In another study, TEP4 mutants infected with Photorhabdus bacteria demonstrated higher levels of melanization and phenoloxidase activity as well as increased production of antimicrobial peptides. The goal of our work is to achieve a better understanding of TEPs and their role. In particular, we are interested at the TEP3 function in the defense against nematodes which we study by testing the susceptibility of Drosophila against symbiotic and axenic nematodes of selected species in experimental infections. We observed clear difference in pathogenic effect not only among different species of nematodes, but also among different isolates of one species. Immunity of TEP3 flies was further evaluated by determination of phenoloxidase and antimicrobial activities that differ from wild-type flies in case of TEP4. These tests could provide us with a better insight to the role of TEP3 gene and its product in immune system of the Drosophila and its reactions to pathogens. This project was supported by grant GACR 17-03253S. |
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