While antimicrobial cocktails are highly effective for defence against pathogenic microbes, the innate immune response may instead employ highly specific peptidic antibiotics to combat certain natural enemies.

The immune effector Drosomycin buffers stress signaling in hypertrophic salivary glands to inhibit their disintegration, detection by the cellular immune response, and promotes further overgrowth.

To avoid recognition by the immune system, bacteria use autolysins to trim fragments of peptidoglycans that are exposed on the bacterial cell wall.

Natural activity of the antimicrobial peptide Defensin includes execution of tumour cell death by tumour necrosis factor in Drosophila.

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

Excess membrane can trap outgoing extracellular matrix proteins in secreting cells, leading to pericellular deposits that cause tissue damage.

Comprehensive developmental in situ analysis of the Drosophila lymph gland provides markers highlighting blood progenitor diversity and reveals that JAK-STAT signaling prevents posterior progenitor differentiation, promoting survival after immune challenge.