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Development and use of a G. mellonella infection model to discover novel virulence mutants in B. anthracis
Malmquist, Jacob Adam,author.
Malmquist, Jacob Adam,author.
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2018
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Understanding bacterial virulence provides insight into the molecular basis behind infection and could identify new targets for drug development. Currently, in vivo virulence is assessed in the mouse model. While this model is effective, there are constraints associated with vertebrate use. This study investigated the invertebrate wax worm larvae, G. mellonella, as an alternative in vivo model for B. anthracis. We constructed and assessed several virulence mutants and found that G. mellonella effectively distinguished between virulent and avirulent strains. We also tested whether G. mellonella could identify novel virulence mutants. Transposon mutants were screened for deficits in reactive oxygen species (ROS) survival and iron acquisition and were then assessed in G. mellonella. Two were found to have an in vivo phenotype. These results demonstrate the potential effectiveness of G. mellonella as an infection model and could increase the efficiency in the identification of novel bacterial virulence mutants.
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1 online resource (v, 43 pages) :
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Biology