Abstract
Galleria mellonella larva has been widely exploited as an infection model for bacteria and fungi. Our laboratory uses this insect as a model for fungal infection caused by the genus Malassezia, in particular, systemic infections caused by Malassezia furfur and Malassezia pachydermatis, which are poorly understood. Here, we describe the G. mellonella larva inoculation process with M. furfur and M. pachydermatis and the posterior assessment of the establishment and dissemination of the infection in the larvae. This assessment was done through the evaluation of larval survival, melanization, fungal burden, hemocytes populations, and histological changes. This methodology allows for the identification of virulence patterns between Malassezia species and the impact of inoculum concentration and temperature.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dinh H, Semenec L, Kumar SS et al (2021) Microbiology’s next top model: Galleria in the molecular age. Pathog Dis 79(2):1–11. https://doi.org/10.1093/femspd/ftab006
Hubrecht RC, Carter E (2019) The 3Rs and humane experimental technique: implementing change. Animals 9:754. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9100754
Piatek M, Sheehan G, Kavanagh K (2020) Utilising Galleria mellonella larvae for studying in vivo activity of conventional and novel antimicrobial agents. Pathog Dis 78:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1093/femspd/ftaa059
Amorim-Vaz S, Delarze E, Ischer F et al (2015) Examining the virulence of Candida albicans transcription factor mutants using Galleria mellonella and mouse infection models. Front Microbiol 6:1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2015.00367
García-Carnero LC, Clavijo-Giraldo DM, Gómez-Gaviria M et al (2020) Early virulence predictors during the Candida species–Galleria mellonella interaction. J Fungi 6:152. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6030152
Trevijano-Contador N, Zaragoza O (2019) Immune response of Galleria mellonella against human fungal pathogens. J Fungi 5:3. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof5010003
Sparber F, Ruchti F, LeibundGut-Landmann S (2020) Host immunity to Malassezia in health and disease. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 10:198. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00198
Rhimi W, Theelen B, Boekhout T et al (2020) Malassezia spp. yeasts of emerging concern in fungemia. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 10:370. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00370
Iatta R, Cafarchia C, Cuna T et al (2014) Bloodstream infections by Malassezia and Candida species in critical care patients. Med Mycol 52:264–269. https://doi.org/10.1093/mmy/myt004
Torres M, de Cock H, Celis Ramírez AM (2020) In vitro or in vivo models, the next frontier for unraveling interactions between Malassezia spp. and hosts. How much do we know? J Fungi 6:155. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6030155
Stephens JM (1962) Bactericidal activity of the blood of actively immunized wax moth larvae. Can J Microbiol 8:491–499. https://doi.org/10.1139/m62-064
Firacative C, Khan A, Duan S et al (2020) Rearing and maintenance of Galleria mellonella and its application to study fungal virulence. J Fungi 6:130. https://doi.org/10.3390/jof6030130
Kay S, Edwards J, Brown J et al (2019) Galleria mellonella infection model identifies both high and low lethality of Clostridium perfringens toxigenic strains and their response to antimicrobials. Front Microbiol 10:1281. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01281
Torres M, Pinzón EN, Rey FM et al (2020) Galleria mellonella as a novelty in vivo model of host-pathogen interaction for Malassezia furfur CBS 1878 and Malassezia pachydermatis CBS 1879. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 10:199. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00199
Fallon J, Kelly J, Kavanagh K (2012) Galleria mellonella as a model for fungal pathogenicity testing. In: Brand A, MacCallum D (eds) Host-fungus interactions. Methods in molecular biology (methods and protocols), vol 845. Humana, Totowa. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-539-8_33
Barbosa P, Berry DL, Kary CS (2014) Problems of sclerotized chitin: softening insect cuticle. In: Barbosa P, Berry DL, Kary CS (eds) Insect histology. Wiley, London
Acknowledgments
We thank the Faculty of Sciences for financial support grant No. INV-2018-31-1252, the department of biological science, the Vice-Presidency of Research and Creation, the AnimalCore and the department of languages and culture, Universidad de los Andes.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Torres, M., Ramírez, A.M.C. (2023). Standardization of Galleria mellonella as an Infection Model for Malassezia furfur and Malassezia pachydermatis. In: Drummond, R.A. (eds) Antifungal Immunity. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2667. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3199-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3199-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3198-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3199-7
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols