Stochastic variation in the initial phase of bacterial infection predicts the probability of survival in D. melanogaster
- Cornell University, United States
- University of Toulouse 3, France
Abstract
A central problem in infection biology is understanding why two individuals exposed to identical infections have different outcomes. We have developed an experimental model where genetically identical, co-housed Drosophila given identical systemic infections experience different outcomes, with some individuals succumbing to acute infection while others control the pathogen as an asymptomatic persistent infection. We found that differences in bacterial burden at the time of death did not explain the two outcomes of infection. Inter-individual variation in survival stems from variation in within-host bacterial growth, which is determined by the immune response. We developed a model that captures bacterial growth dynamics and identifies key factors that predict the infection outcome: the rate of bacterial proliferation and the time required for the host to establish an effective immunological control. Our results provide a framework for studying the individual host-pathogen parameters governing the progression of infection and lead ultimately to life or death.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Science Foundation (1354421)
- Nicolas Buchon
National Institutes of Health (RO1 AI083932)
- Brian P Lazzaro
New York State Department of Health (Empire state stem cell fund C029542)
- Nicolas Buchon
Swiss National Foundation (Fellowship from P300P3_147874)
- David Duneau
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French Laboratory of Excellence ANR-11-IDEX-0002-02)
- David Duneau
Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French Laboratory of Excellence project ANR-10-LABX-41)
- David Duneau
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2017, Duneau et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Stochastic variation in the initial phase of bacterial infection predicts the probability of survival in D. melanogaster
eLife 6:e28298.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.28298
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