title: Genetic models in pathogenesis.
abstract: To decipher the complexity of host-pathogen interactions the widest possible range of model hosts and of analytical methods is required. As some virulence mechanisms and certain host responses have been conserved throughout evolution, even simple organisms can be used as model hosts to help our understanding of infectious diseases. The availability of molecular genetic tools and a cooperative community of researchers are pivotal to the emergence of model systems. In this review, we first summarize the genetic screens that can be used to identify pathogen virulence factors, then we present a comparative overview of existing or emerging genetically tractable host models.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille-Luminy, INSERM/CNRS/Universite de la Mediterranee, Case 906, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France. pradel@ciml.univ-mrs.fr
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pradel
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ewbank
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D004023:Dictyostelium / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D051379:Mice / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D008957:Models, Genetic; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors