HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (Papers in Press[PDF]) All Versions of this Article: mic.0.026823-0v1 155/5/1516    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Champion, O. L. Articles by Titball, R. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Champion, O. L. Articles by Titball, R. W. Agricola Articles by Champion, O. L. Articles by Titball, R. W.

Galleria mellonella as an alternative infection model for Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

¹ University of Exeter;
² Dstl Porton Down;
³ Kingston University;
⁴ London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

ABSTRACT

We report that larvae of the wax moth (Galleria mellonella) are susceptible to infection with the human enteropathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis at 37^oC. Confocal microscopy demonstrated that in the initial stages of infection the bacteria were taken up into hemocytes. To evaluate the utility of this model for screening Y. pseudotuberculosis mutants we constructed and tested a superoxide dismutase C (sodC) mutant. The mutant showed increased susceptibility to superoxide, a key mechanism of killing in insect hemocytes and mammalian phagocytes. The mutant showed reduced virulence in the murine yersiniosis infection model and in contrast to the wild type strain IP32953 was unable to kill G. mellonella. The complemented mutant restored all phenotypic properties associated with SodC confirming the important role of this metalloenzyme in two Y. pseudotuberculosis infection models.

⁵ E-mail: r.w.titball{at}exeter.ac.uk