title: Intracellular survival of Staphylococcus aureus during persistent infection in the insect Tenebrio molitor.
abstract: Survival of bacteria within host cells and tissues presents a challenge to the immune systems of higher organisms. Escape from phagocytic immune cells compounds this issue, as immune cells become potential vehicles for pathogen dissemination. However, the duration of persistence within phagocytes and its contribution to pathogen load has yet to be determined. We investigate the immunological significance of intracellular persistence within the insect model Tenebrio molitor, assessing the extent, duration and location of bacterial recovery during a persistent infection. Relative abundance of Staphylococcus aureus in both intracellular and extracellular fractions was determined over 21 days, and live S. aureus were successfully recovered from both the hemolymph and within phagocytic immune cells across the entire time course. The proportion of bacteria recovered from within phagocytes also increased over time. Our results show that to accurately estimate pathogen load it is vital to account for bacteria persisting within immune cells.
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK; Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: McGonigle
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK; School of Life Sciences, Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Purves
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK; Institute of Biology, Free University Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: jens.rolff@fu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rolff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006458:Hemolymph / Q000382:microbiology*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D010586:Phagocytes / Q000382:microbiology*; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000276:immunology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000276:immunology*; D013712:Tenebrio / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*
keywords: Intracellular survival; Persistent infection; Staphylococcus aureus; Tenebrio molitor