title: Drosophila innate immunity: an evolutionary perspective.
abstract: In response to microbial infections, Drosophila mounts a multifaceted immune response involving humoral reactions that culminate in the destruction of invading organisms by lytic peptides. These defense mechanisms are activated via two distinct signaling pathways. One of these, the Toll pathway, controls resistance to fungal and Gram-positive bacterial infections, whereas the Imd pathway is responsible for defense against Gram-negative bacterial infections. Current evidence indicates that recognition of infectious nonself agents results from interactions between microbial wall components and extracellular pattern recognition proteins. We discuss here evolutionary perspectives on our present understanding of the antimicrobial defenses of Drosophila.
authors.affiliation: CNRS, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, 15 rue Descartes, 67000 Strasbourg, France. j.hoffmann@ibmc.u-strasbg.fr
authors.forename: Jules A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Reichhart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004330:Drosophila / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C068721:Tl protein, Drosophila; D051193:Toll-Like Receptors; C439909:imd protein, Drosophila