The fly Drosophila subobscura: a natural case of innate immunity deficiency

Developmental and Comparative Immunology
P Eslin, G Doury

Abstract

The Drosophila subobscura larvae were found to be unable to form a capsule around a parasitic egg or an inert foreign body. The specificity and physiological causes of this incapacity were also explored: analysis of the circulating hemocytes showed that no lamellocyte was ever found in D. subobscura host larvae. Therefore, the fly D. subobscura is the first discovered animal species to present an innate immunodeficiency against a wide range of parasites. This is contrary to the theories that propose that all organisms, in natural conditions, are potentially able to defend themselves against parasitization. This unexpected finding opens evolutionary debates about the cost of immune resistance not only at the level of a population, but also of a whole species. We believe this species of fruitfly could become a new model system to study genes involved in hematopoïesis, and in a larger context to better understand defence reactions in organisms.

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Citations

Jan 5, 2007·Annual Review of Immunology·Bruno Lemaitre, Jules Hoffmann
Jan 21, 2014·Genome Biology and Evolution·Laura Salazar-JaramilloBregje Wertheim
Nov 6, 2012·Journal of Insect Physiology·Sylvia GerritsmaBregje Wertheim
Mar 14, 2009·Comptes rendus biologies·Marylène PoiriéAurore Dubuffet
Mar 29, 2011·Journal of Insect Physiology·Alice M LaughtonNicole M Gerardo
Jul 28, 2016·FEBS Letters·Manon LetourneauMichèle Crozatier
Jan 29, 2021·PeerJ·Laura Salazar-Jaramillo, Bregje Wertheim
Sep 22, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Nathan T MortimerTodd A Schlenke

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