The same host–virus interactions can evolve multiple times in nature, due to the high effective mutation rate of viruses, and provide interesting systems of study.

A newly described isolate of the behavior-manipulating fly pathogen Entomophthora muscae that naturally infects fruit flies can be cultured in the lab, enabling molecular investigation of how microbes induce behavior changes in animal hosts.

Net-winged midge larvae use suction organs covered in spine-like cuticular protrusions to generate powerful attachment on wet and rough surfaces.

Axon guidance genes are conserved regulators of neurodegeneration in Drosophila melanogaster and human inducible motor neuron models of UBQLN2-associated amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

During Drosophila primordial germ cells (PGCs) specification, the centrosome and germplasm are subject to regulation, during the maternal zygotic transition, by Caspar/TER94-dependent degradative pathways that influence PGC determinants.

Immune activation in Drosophila macrophages during oxidative stress is regulated by DNA damage signaling, which controls proinflammatory cytokine release and the susceptibility of the fly to oxidative stress.

The universal bacteria cell wall component peptidoglycan impacts the egg-laying behavior of infected Drosophila females by directly modulating the activity of few brain octopaminergic neurons.

The host acts as an important factor to control the phenotypic heterogeneity of individual symbionts.

Use of a newly developed experimental model in fruit flies reveals that death following traumatic brain injury is largely due to a mechanism by which brain damage triggers disruption of the intestinal barrier, leading to elevated levels of glucose in the circulatory system with deleterious consequences.