Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Galleria mellonella Larvae as an Infection Model for Penicillium marneffei

  • Published:
Mycopathologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Penicillium marneffei, the only known dimorphic and pathogenic species in the genus of Penicillium, is responsible for severe to deadly infection in immunocompromised patients. In this study, P. marneffei was able to infect the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella. The increasing inoculum doses of P. marneffei cells resulted in greater larval mortality, and the larval mortality rate also depended on the incubation temperature after P. marneffei infection and different P. marneffei strains. Moreover, the phagocytosis of hemocytes to P. marneffei was investigated, and it showed that the phagocytosis was increasing during the infection. These results demonstrated that G. mellonella can be effectively used to facilitate the in vivo study of P. marneffei infection and hemocytes are the key component of the larvae’s immune defenses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lionakis MS. Drosophila and Galleria insect model hosts: new tools for the study of fungal virulence, pharmacology and immunology. Virulence. 2011;2(6):521–7.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Mylonakis E. Galleria mellonella and the study of fungal pathogenesis: making the case for another genetically tractable model host. Mycopathologia. 2008;165(1):1–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Cotter G, Doyle S, Kavanagh K. Development of an insect model for the in vivo pathogenicity testing of yeasts. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2000;27(2):163–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Fuchs BB, O’Brien E, Khoury JB, Mylonakis E. Methods for using Galleria mellonella as a model host to study fungal pathogenesis. Virulence. 2010;1(6):475–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Shapiro RS, Cowen LE. Uncovering cellular circuitry controlling temperature-dependent fungal morphogenesis. Virulence. 2012;3(4):400–4.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Mylonakis E, Moreno R, El Khoury JB, Idnurm A, Heitman J, Calderwood SB, Ausubel FM, Diener A. Galleria mellonella as a model system to study Cryptococcus neoformans pathogenesis. Infect Immun. 2005;73(7):3842–50.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Li DD, Deng L, Hu GH, Zhao LX, Hu DD, Jiang YY, Wang Y. Using Galleria mellonella–Candida albicans infection model to evaluate antifungal agents. Biol Pharm Bull. 2013;36(9):1482–7.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Mesa-Arango AC, Forastiero A, Bernal-Martinez L, Cuenca-Estrella M, Mellado E, Zaragoza O. The non-mammalian host Galleria mellonella can be used to study the virulence of the fungal pathogen Candida tropicalis and the efficacy of antifungal drugs during infection by this pathogenic yeast. Med Mycol. 2013;51(5):461–72.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Jacobsen ID. Galleria mellonella as a model host to study virulence of Candida. Virulence. 2014;5(2):237–9.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Achterman RR, Smith AR, Oliver BG, White TC. Sequenced dermatophyte strains: growth rate, conidiation, drug susceptibilities, and virulence in an invertebrate model. Fungal Genet Biol. 2011;48(3):335–41.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Reeves EP, Messina CG, Doyle S, Kavanagh K. Correlation between gliotoxin production and virulence of Aspergillus fumigatus in Galleria mellonella. Mycopathologia. 2004;158(1):73–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Jackson JC, Higgins LA, Lin X. Conidiation color mutants of Aspergillus fumigatus are highly pathogenic to the heterologous insect host Galleria mellonella. PLoS One. 2009;4(1):e4224.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. St Leger RJ, Screen SE, Shams-Pirzadeh B. Lack of host specialization in Aspergillus flavus. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2000;66(1):320–4.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Scully LR, Bidochka MJ. A cysteine/methionine auxotroph of the opportunistic fungus Aspergillus flavus is associated with host-range restriction: a model for emerging diseases. Microbiology. 2006;152(Pt 1):223–32.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Thomaz L, Garcia-Rodas R, Guimaraes AJ, Taborda CP, Zaragoza O, Nosanchuk JD. Galleria mellonella as a model host to study Paracoccidioides lutzii and Histoplasma capsulatum. Virulence. 2013;4(2):139–46.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hsueh PR, Teng LJ, Hung CC, Hsu JH, Yang PC, Ho SW, Luh KT. Molecular evidence for strain dissemination of Penicillium marneffei: an emerging pathogen in Taiwan. J Infect Dis. 2000;181(5):1706–12.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Supparatpinyo K, Khamwan C, Baosoung V, Nelson KE, Sirisanthana T. Disseminated Penicillium marneffei infection in southeast Asia. Lancet. 1994;344(8915):110–3.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Wong SS, Siau H, Yuen KY. Penicilliosis marneffei–West meets East. J Med Microbiol. 1999;48(11):973–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Lau SK, Chow WN, Wong AY, Yeung JM, Bao J, Zhang N, Lok S, Woo PC, Yuen KY. Identification of microRNA-like RNAs in mycelial and yeast phases of the thermal dimorphic fungus Penicillium marneffei. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013;7(8):e2398.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Vanittanakom N, Cooper CR Jr, Fisher MC, Sirisanthana T. Penicillium marneffei infection and recent advances in the epidemiology and molecular biology aspects. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2006;19(1):95–110.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Kummasook A, Cooper CR Jr, Sakamoto A, Terui Y, Kashiwagi K, Vanittanakom N. Spermidine is required for morphogenesis in the human pathogenic fungus, Penicillium marneffei. Fungal Genet Biol. 2013;58–59:25–32.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Lu S, Hu Y, Lu C, Zhang J, Li X, Xi L. Development of in vitro macrophage system to evaluate phagocytosis and intracellular fate of Penicillium marneffei conidia. Mycopathologia. 2013;176(1–2):11–22.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Woo PC, Lam CW, Tam EW, Leung CK, Wong SS, Lau SK, Yuen KY. First discovery of two polyketide synthase genes for mitorubrinic acid and mitorubrinol yellow pigment biosynthesis and implications in virulence of Penicillium marneffei. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6(10):e1871.

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Huang X, Li D, Xi L, Mylonakis E. Caenorhabditis elegans: a simple nematode infection model for Penicillium marneffei. PLoS One. 2014;9(9):e108764.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Liu D, Wei L, Guo T, Tan W. Detection of DOPA-melanin in the dimorphic fungal pathogen Penicillium marneffei and its effect on macrophage phagocytosis in vitro. PLoS One. 2014;9(3):e92610.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant Number 81171545).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 107 West Yanjiang Road, Guangzhou, China

    Xiaowen Huang & Liyan Xi

  2. Division of Infectious Diseases, Rhode Island Hospital, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI, 02903, USA

    Xiaowen Huang, Dedong Li & Eleftherios Mylonakis

  3. Department of Clinical Pharmacology, PLA General Hospital, 28 Fu Xing Road, Beijing, China

    Dedong Li

Authors
  1. Xiaowen Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dedong Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Liyan Xi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Eleftherios Mylonakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Liyan Xi or Eleftherios Mylonakis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Huang, X., Li, D., Xi, L. et al. Galleria mellonella Larvae as an Infection Model for Penicillium marneffei . Mycopathologia 180, 159–164 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-015-9897-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-015-9897-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation