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

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. Ho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of fungi (Basel) 2020-09, Vol.6 (3), p.130
Main Authors: Firacative, Carolina, Khan, Aziza, Duan, Shuyao, Ferreira-Paim, Kennio, Leemon, Diana, Meyer, Wieland
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animal model
Animal models
Artificial diets
Butterflies & moths
Cryptococcus gattii
Diet
Experiments
Farms
Females
fungal infection
Fungal infections
Galleria mellonella
Genetic variability
Health aspects
Humidity
Laboratories
Larvae
Moths
Observations
Pathogenicity
Review
Ventilation
Virulence
Virulence (Microbiology)
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Summary: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.
ISSN:2309-608X
2309-608X
DOI:10.3390/jof6030130