title: Analysis of Sporothrix schenckii sensu stricto and Sporothrix brasiliensis virulence in Galleria mellonella.
abstract: The study of the host-pathogen interaction is essential to understand the mechanisms underlying adhesion, colonization and tissue damage by pathogens. This is usually achieved by performing in vivo studies using small mammals, such as rats, mice and guinea pigs. Nowadays, the mouse models of systemic or subcutaneous infection are the gold standard assays to analyze the virulence of members of the Sporothrix schenckii complex. There are, however, invertebrates that have been recently used as alternative hosts to assess the virulence of both bacteria and fungi, and among them, larvae of Galleria mellonella are popular because they are easy to breed, and require non-specialized facilities to maintain the colony. Here, we assessed the use of G. mellonella larvae to test the virulence of S. schenckii sensu stricto and Sporothrix brasiliensis strains, and found that infection with yeast-like cells, but not with conidia or germlings, reproduces the virulence data generated in the mouse model of infection. Furthermore, with this insect model we could classify the virulence of some strains as low, intermediate or high, in line with the observations in the mammalian model. Therefore, G. mellonella is suitable, and a new alternative, to test virulence of both S. schenckii sensu stricto and S. brasiliensis.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: Diana M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Clavijo-Giraldo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Matínez-Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micologia Celular e Proteômica, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leila M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Lopes-Bezerra
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ponce-Noyola
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología, División de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Campus Guanajuato, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. Electronic address: hmora@ugto.mx.
authors.forename: Héctor M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Mora-Montes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007814:Larva / Q000382:microbiology; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D009036:Moths / Q000382:microbiology*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013175:Sporothrix / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013174:Sporotrichosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D015996:Survival Rate; D014774:Virulence
keywords: Galleria mellonella; Sporothrix brasiliensis; Sporothrix schenckii; Virulence