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Rearing and Maintenance of Galleria mellonella and Its Application to Study Fungal Virulence

Authors :
Carolina Firacative
Aziza Khan
Shuyao Duan
Kennio Ferreira-Paim
Diana Leemon
Wieland Meyer
Source :
Journal of Fungi, Vol 6, Iss 3, p 130 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2020.

Abstract

Galleria mellonella larvae have been widely used as alternative non-mammalian models for the study of fungal virulence and pathogenesis. The larvae can be acquired in small volumes from worm farms, pet stores, or other independent suppliers commonly found in the United States and parts of Europe. However, in countries with no or limited commercial availability, the process of shipping these larvae can cause them stress, resulting in decreased or altered immunity. Furthermore, the conditions used to rear these larvae including diet, humidity, temperature, and maintenance procedures vary among the suppliers. Variation in these factors can affect the response of G. mellonella larvae to infection, thereby decreasing the reproducibility of fungal virulence experiments. There is a critical need for standardized procedures and incubation conditions for rearing G. mellonella to produce quality, unstressed larvae with the least genetic variability. In order to standardize these procedures, cost-effective protocols for the propagation and maintenance of G. mellonella larvae using an artificial diet, which has been successfully used in our own laboratory, requiring minimal equipment and expertise, are herein described. Examples for the application of this model in fungal pathogenicity and gene knockout studies as feasible alternatives for traditionally used animal models are also provided.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2309608X
Volume :
6
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Journal of Fungi
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.6eb95cb5505c4bc6bbc8171ca2153ef2
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6030130