Galleria mellonella as a Suitable Model of Bacterial Infection: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

The increasing interest for Galleria mellonella larvae as an infection model is evidenced by the number of papers reporting its use, which increases exponentially since the early 2010s. This popularity was initially linked to limitation of conventional animal models due to financial, technical and ethical aspects. In comparison, alternative models (e.g. models using Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster or G. mellonella) were cheap, simple to use and not limited by ethical regulation. Since then, similar results have been established with G. mellonella model comparatively to vertebrates, and it is more and more often used as a robust model per se, not only as an alternative to the murine model. This review attempts to summarize the current knowledge supporting the development of this model, both on immunological and microbiological aspects. For that, we focus on investigation of virulence and new therapies for the most important pathogenic bacteria. We also discuss points out directions for standardization, as well as recent advances and new perspectives for monitoring host-pathogen interactions.

Whole genome sequencing of OXA-232-producing wzi93-KL112-O1 carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in human bloodstream infection co-harboring chromosomal ISEcp1-based blaCTX-M-15 and one rmpA2-associated virulence plasmid

“…Galleria mellonella infection model was used to assess virulence as previously described ( Menard et al., 2021 ; Zhao et al., 2021 ). In brief, log-phase bacteria were centrifuged, resuspended using phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and then diluted 10-fold to yield 1 × 10 8 colony forming units/mL (CFU/mL).…”

Effects of α and β-adrenergic signaling on innate immunity and Porphyromonas gingivalis virulence in an invertebrate model

“…After inoculation, the larvae were kept at 37 ºC, and survival was assessed daily for 5 days for agar-grown bacteria and hourly (up to 24 h) for broth-grown bacteria. At this point, the larvae were kept at 37 ºC because it is the ideal temperature for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of P. gingivalis [ 49 ], and it is well tolerated by the G. mellonella larvae [ 50 , 51 ].…”

Descripción histológica de Galleria mellonella

“…La respuesta inmune celular está mediada por células fagocíticas, llamadas hemocitos. Los hemocitos se encuentran en la hemolinfa, de forma análoga a la sangre de los mamíferos (17) . Estas células participan en los procesos de fagocitosis, encapsulación y coagulación.…”