Investigating bacterial infections in Galleria mellonella larvae: Insights into pathogen dissemination and behavior.

The insect Galleria mellonella is an alternative animal model widely used for studying bacterial infections. It presents a wide range of advantages, including its low cost, easy maintenance and lack of ethical constraints. Among other features, their innate immune system is very similar to that of mammals. In this study, we dissected several larvae infected with important human pathogens: Mycobacterium abscessus, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. By observing the fat body, gut, trachea, and hemolymph under the microscope, we were able to describe where bacteria tend to disseminate. We also quantified the number of bacteria in the hemolymph throughout the infection course and found significant differences between the different pathogens. With this work, we aimed to better understand the behavior and dissemination of bacteria in the infected larvae.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)