title: Can insects develop resistance to insect pathogenic fungi?
abstract: Microevolutionary adaptations and mechanisms of fungal pathogen resistance were explored in a melanic population of the Greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella. Under constant selective pressure from the insect pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, 25(th) generation larvae exhibited significantly enhanced resistance, which was specific to this pathogen and not to another insect pathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae. Defense and stress management strategies of selected (resistant) and non-selected (susceptible) insect lines were compared to uncover mechanisms underpinning resistance, and the possible cost of those survival strategies. We hypothesize that the insects developed a transgenerationally primed resistance to the fungus B. bassiana, a costly trait that was achieved not by compromising life-history traits but rather by prioritizing and re-allocating pathogen-species-specific augmentations to integumental front-line defenses that are most likely to be encountered by invading fungi. Specifically during B. bassiana infection, systemic immune defenses are suppressed in favour of a more limited but targeted repertoire of enhanced responses in the cuticle and epidermis of the integument (e.g. expression of the fungal enzyme inhibitor IMPI, and cuticular phenoloxidase activity). A range of putative stress-management factors (e.g. antioxidants) is also activated during the specific response of selected insects to B. bassiana but not M. anisopliae. This too occurs primarily in the integument, and probably contributes to antifungal defense and/or helps ameliorate the damage inflicted by the fungus or the host's own immune responses.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.
authors.forename: Ivan M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Dubovskiy
authors.forename: Miranda M A
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Whitten
authors.forename: Olga N
authors.initials: ON
authors.lastname: Yaroslavtseva
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Greig
authors.forename: Vadim Y
authors.initials: VY
authors.lastname: Kryukov
authors.forename: Ekaterina V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Grizanova
authors.forename: Krishnendu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vilcinskas
authors.forename: Viktor V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Glupov
authors.forename: Tariq M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Butt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism; D052982:Beauveria / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D034582:Integumentary System / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D052981:Metarhizium / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D009036:Moths / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D019476:Insect Proteins; D014442:Monophenol Monooxygenase
references.citation: Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2005 May;35(5):443-59
references.pmid: 15804578
references.citation: Cell. 2006 Dec 29;127(7):1425-37
references.pmid: 17190605
references.citation: Evolution. 2001 Sep;55(9):1805-14
references.pmid: 11681735
references.citation: Virulence. 2010 May-Jun;1(3):206-14
references.pmid: 21178444
references.citation: Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2008 Oct;38(10):940-9
references.pmid: 18721883
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011 Jan 10;6(1):e16108
references.pmid: 21264343
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Apr 16;99(8):5471-5
references.pmid: 11960003
references.citation: Parasit Vectors. 2011 Feb 22;4:23
references.pmid: 21342492
references.citation: PLoS One. 2009 Aug 27;4(8):e6795
references.pmid: 19710910
references.citation: Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 1999 Nov;29(11):965-72
references.pmid: 10560137
references.citation: J Insect Physiol. 2012 Mar;58(3):342-7
references.pmid: 22206886
references.citation: Dev Comp Immunol. 2012 Oct;38(2):275-84
references.pmid: 22858411
references.citation: Protein Pept Lett. 2005 Jan;12(1):3-11
references.pmid: 15638797
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2009 Jan 7;276(1654):145-51
references.pmid: 18796392
references.citation: Dev Comp Immunol. 2011 Aug;35(8):857-64
references.pmid: 21527285
references.citation: Heredity (Edinb). 2005 Jun;94(6):650-6
references.pmid: 15815710
references.citation: Cell Host Microbe. 2012 Jul 19;12(1):60-70
references.pmid: 22817988
references.citation: J Insect Physiol. 1997 Nov;43(12):1149-1159
references.pmid: 12770487
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1995 Jan 15;125(2-3):211-7
references.pmid: 7875568
references.citation: Annu Rev Immunol. 2007;25:697-743
references.pmid: 17201680
references.citation: J Liposome Res. 2005;15(1-2):109-39
references.pmid: 16194930
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Apr 25;103(17):6647-52
references.pmid: 16614065
references.citation: Trends Immunol. 2008 Jun;29(6):263-71
references.pmid: 18457993
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2000 Jan 22;267(1439):177-82
references.pmid: 10687824
references.citation: PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e36366
references.pmid: 22685538
references.citation: Heredity (Edinb). 2008 Apr;100(4):400-6
references.pmid: 18301441
references.citation: J Invertebr Pathol. 2008 Jan;97(1):40-9
references.pmid: 17764687
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Jun 7;273(1592):1399-405
references.pmid: 16777729
references.citation: Parasitology. 2006 Jun;132(Pt 6):767-73
references.pmid: 16497252
references.citation: J Invertebr Pathol. 2007 May;95(1):48-59
references.pmid: 17292390
references.citation: Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 May;37(5):440-52
references.pmid: 17456439
references.citation: J Invertebr Pathol. 2002 Jul;80(3):177-87
references.pmid: 12384084
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Mar 3;106(9):2971-2
references.pmid: 19251661
references.citation: Science. 2005 Dec 16;310(5755):1781
references.pmid: 16357252
references.citation: Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Oct 7;273(1600):2571-4
references.pmid: 16959651
references.citation: Evolution. 2002 Dec;56(12):2435-44
references.pmid: 12583584
references.citation: J Evol Biol. 2008 Nov;21(6):1744-54
references.pmid: 18691239
references.citation: BMC Evol Biol. 2011 Jul 14;11:206
references.pmid: 21756302
references.citation: PLoS Pathog. 2009 Dec;5(12):e1000694
references.pmid: 20019799