A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Does immune priming in Galleria mellonella reveal plastic mechanisms for survival?




AuthorsTerán-Murillo, Fátima; Ghosh, Enakshi; Rantala, Markus J.; Krams, Indrikis; Krams, Ronald; Contreras-Garduño, Jorge

PublisherElsevier BV

Publication year2025

JournalDevelopmental and Comparative Immunology

Journal name in sourceDevelopmental & Comparative Immunology

Article number105407

Volume169

ISSN0145-305X

eISSN1879-0089

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.dci.2025.105407

Web address https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dci.2025.105407

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/499250036


Abstract

Immune priming enhances protection in invertebrates upon secondary exposure to specific pathogens. Despite significant advances in understanding this phenomenon, it remains unclear whether the elevated defense observed through priming arises from identical or distinct effector-mediated responses within the same species. To address this, we used the model species Galleria mellonella from two geographically distinct origins (Siberia and Mexico), both of which exhibited immune priming with enhanced survival. We measured five immune effectors in primed individuals to investigate whether the mechanisms behind immune priming were conserved. Remarkably, we identified distinct effector responses associated with immune priming between the two groups. Individuals of Siberian origin exhibited an increased total hemocyte count, and a higher number of live hemocytes in primed individuals. In contrast, individuals of Mexican origin demonstrated a higher lytic activity and a higher level of hydrogen peroxide production in the priming group compared with control. Phenoloxidase activity did not significantly differ across treatments in either group. Our findings suggest that G. mellonella from different origins achieve similar survival through different physiological effectors. These results highlight the diversity of immune priming mechanisms within a single species and support the idea that the immune priming mechanisms in invertebrates may be plastic within and across species.


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Funding information in the publication
The study was supported by a grant from DGAPA, PAPIIT, UNAM (IN226324). This publication/research supported within the framework of the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Mechanism project No.5.2.1.1.i.0/2/24/I/CFLA/001 "Consolidation of the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis and the Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre" to I.K. RK was funded by the European Union Cohesion Policy Programme 2021–2027, under the specific objective 1.1.1 “Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies”, activity 1.1.1.9 “Post-doctoral Research”, project No. 1.1.1.9/LZP/1/24/122 “Exploring the potential of native conifer products for honey bee protection”.


Last updated on 2025-18-08 at 10:03