Stop codon readthrough alters the activity of a POU/Oct transcription factor during Drosophila development.

Background: A number of cellular processes have evolved in metazoans that increase the proteome repertoire in relation to the genome, such as alternative splicing and translation recoding. Another such process, translational stop codon readthrough (SCR), generates C-terminally extended protein isoforms in many eukaryotes, including yeast, plants, insects, and humans. While comparative genome analyses have predicted the existence of programmed SCR in many species including humans, experimental proof of its functional consequences are scarce.

Nubbin isoform antagonism governs Drosophila intestinal immune homeostasis.

Gut immunity is regulated by intricate and dynamic mechanisms to ensure homeostasis despite a constantly changing microbial environment. Several regulatory factors have been described to participate in feedback responses to prevent aberrant immune activity. Little is, however, known about how transcriptional programs are directly tuned to efficiently adapt host gut tissues to the current microbiome.

A key malaria metabolite modulates vector blood seeking, feeding, and susceptibility to infection.

Malaria infection renders humans more attractive to sensu lato mosquitoes than uninfected people. The mechanisms remain unknown. We found that an isoprenoid precursor produced by , ()-4-hydroxy-3-methyl-but-2-enyl pyrophosphate (HMBPP), affects s.

Towards a paradigm shift in innate immunity-seminal work by Hans G. Boman and co-workers.

Four decades ago, immunological research was dominated by the field of lymphoid biology. It was commonly accepted that multicellular eukaryotes defend themselves through phagocytosis. The lack of lymphoid cells in insects and other simpler animals, however, led to the common notion that they might simply lack the capacity defend themselves with humoral factors.

Medium from γ-irradiated Escherichia coli bacteria stimulates a unique immune response in Drosophila cells.

It is well known that γ-irradiated, non-dividing bacteria can elicit potent immune responses in mammals. Compared to traditional heat or chemical inactivation of microbes, γ-irradiation likely preserves metabolic activity and antigenic features to a larger extent. We have previously shown that antimicrobial peptides are induced in Drosophila by peptidoglycan fragments secreted into the medium of exponentially growing bacterial cultures.

Insights from the genome annotation of Elizabethkingia anophelis from the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae.

Elizabethkingia anophelis is a dominant bacterial species in the gut ecosystem of the malaria vector mosquito Anopheles gambiae. We recently sequenced the genomes of two strains of E. anophelis, R26T and Ag1, isolated from different strains of A.

Draft Genome Sequences of Elizabethkingia anophelis Strains R26T and Ag1 from the Midgut of the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles gambiae.

Elizabethkingia anophelis is a species in the family Flavobacteriaceae. It is a dominant resident in the mosquito gut and also a human pathogen. We present the draft genome sequences of two strains of E.

Immunogenic and antioxidant effects of a pathogen-associated prenyl pyrophosphate in Anopheles gambiae.

Despite efficient vector transmission, Plasmodium parasites suffer great bottlenecks during their developmental stages within Anopheles mosquitoes. The outcome depends on a complex three-way interaction between host, parasite and gut bacteria. Although considerable progress has been made recently in deciphering Anopheles effector responses, little is currently known regarding the underlying microbial immune elicitors.