Abstract
BackgroundImmune priming has been shown to occur in a wide array of invertebrate taxa, with individuals exposed to a pathogen showing increased protection upon subsequent exposure. However, the mechanisms underlying immune priming are poorly understood. The antiviral RNAi response in Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal candidate for providing a specific and acquired response to subsequent infection. We exposed D. melanogaster to two challenges of a virus known to produce an antiviral RNAi response, to examine whether any protective effects of prior exposure on survival were observed.ResultsIn this experiment we found no evidence that prior exposure to Drosophila C Virus (DCV) protects flies from a subsequent lethal challenge, with almost identical levels of mortality in flies previously exposed to DCV or a control.ConclusionsOur results confirm the finding that ‘acquired’ immune responses are not ubiquitous across all invertebrate-pathogen interactions. We discuss why we may have observed no effect in this study, with focus on the mechanistic basis of the RNAi pathway.
Highlights
Over the past decade, a number of studies have demonstrated that invertebrates that have previously encountered a pathogen/ parasite appear to be protected upon secondary exposure, which has been termed ‘‘immune priming’’ [1,2,3,4,5]
This suggests no flies were accidentally contaminated with Drosophila C Virus (DCV) during the experiment
We found that in this instance flies previously exposed to DCV were not protected against mortality on subsequent exposure
Summary
A number of studies have demonstrated that invertebrates that have previously encountered a pathogen/ parasite appear to be protected upon secondary exposure, which has been termed ‘‘immune priming’’ [1,2,3,4,5]. Experimental studies of immune priming have demonstrated that following exposure to either a dead/non-infectious pathogen, or a sub-lethal dose that is subsequently cleared, a host is protected against a later lethal challenge [2,3,6]. Several weeks after the initial infection, the insects only show increased protection on secondary exposure to the bacteria they were previously exposed to, with the priming response even able to distinguish between bacteria from the same genus [5]. Immune priming has been shown to occur in a wide array of invertebrate taxa, with individuals exposed to a pathogen showing increased protection upon subsequent exposure. We exposed D. melanogaster to two challenges of a virus known to produce an antiviral RNAi response, to examine whether any protective effects of prior exposure on survival were observed
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