The Drosophila Toll pathway controls but does not clear Candida glabrata infections.

The pathogenicity of Candida glabrata to patients remains poorly understood for lack of convenient animal models to screen large numbers of mutants for altered virulence. In this study, we explore the minihost model Drosophila melanogaster from the dual perspective of host and pathogen. As in vertebrates, wild-type flies contain C.

Relative roles of the cellular and humoral responses in the Drosophila host defense against three gram-positive bacterial infections.

Background: Two NF-kappaB signaling pathways, Toll and immune deficiency (imd), are required for survival to bacterial infections in Drosophila. In response to septic injury, these pathways mediate rapid transcriptional activation of distinct sets of effector molecules, including antimicrobial peptides, which are important components of a humoral defense response. However, it is less clear to what extent macrophage-like hemocytes contribute to host defense.