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Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)
2022;2517 299-316.

Drosophila melanogaster as a Rapid and Reliable In Vivo Infection Model to Study the Emerging Yeast Pathogen Candida auris.

Sebastian Wurster, Nathaniel D Albert, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis
Author Information
  1. Sebastian Wurster: Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. stwurster@mdanderson.org. ORCID
  2. Nathaniel D Albert: Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
  3. Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis: Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
PMID: 35674964 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2417-3_24

Abstract

While mammalian models remain the gold standard to study invasive mycoses, mini-host invertebrate models have provided complementary platforms for explorative investigations of fungal pathogenesis, host-pathogen interplay, and antifungal therapy. Specifically, our group has established Toll-deficient Drosophila melanogaster flies as a facile and cost-effective model organism to study candidiasis, and we have recently expanded these studies to the emerging and frequently multidrug-resistant yeast pathogen Candida auris. Our proof-of-concept data suggest that fruit flies could hold a great promise for large-scale applications in antifungal drug discovery and the screening of C. auris (mutant) libraries with disparate pathogenic capacity. This chapter discusses the advantages and limitations of D. melanogaster to study C. auris candidiasis and provides a step-by-step guide for establishing and troubleshooting C. auris infection and antifungal treatment of Toll-deficient flies along with essential downstream readouts.

Keywords

Antifungal treatment Drosophila melanogaster Fruit flies Mini-host model Pathogenicity Virulence

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MeSH Term

Animals
Antifungal Agents
Candida
Candida auris
Candidiasis
Drosophila melanogaster
Mammals
Microbial Sensitivity Tests
Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Chemicals

Antifungal Agents
Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Word Cloud

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