Differential induction of antibacterial transcripts in Drosophila susceptible and resistant to parasitism by Leptopilina boulardi

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Abstract
Two welldescribed elements of the Immune response of insects include encapsulation of metazoan parasites (blood‐cell‐mediated) and the production of antibacterial peptides (humoral and/or cellular). However, the possible functional interrelationship between cellular encapsulation and antibacterial responses, and the extent to which the two components may be co‐regulated, are poorly understood. We used a novel approach involving strains of Drosophila resistant (R) or susceptible (S) to the wasp parasitold Leptopilina boulardi to study the expression of three genes involved in the antibacterial response: Dorsal‐related immunity factor (Dil), Cecropin (CecA1) and Diptericin (Dip). Both S and R strains produced high levels of all antibacterial transcripts upon bacterial injection. However, when parasitized the R strain showed no induction whilst the S strain did. This lack of antibacterial transcript induction in the parasitized R strain not only clarifies the separation of these two types of immune response but also raises the fascinating possibility of a link in their genetic regulation.