Drosophila melanogaster larvae are tolerant to oral infection with the bacterial pathogen Photorhabdus luminescens

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent model for dissecting the molecular and functional bases of bacterial pathogenicity and host antibacterial immune response. The Gram-negative bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens is an insect-specific pathogen that forms a mutualistic relationship with the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora . Here we find that oral infection of D. melanogaster larvae with P. luminescens moderately reduces their survival ability while the bacteria replicate efficiently in the infected insects. This information will contribute towards understanding host gut immunity against potent bacterial pathogens.