Relish, a central factor in the control of humoral but not cellular immunity in Drosophila.

• The NF-kappa B-like Relish gene is complex, with four transcripts that are all located within an intron of the Nmdmc gene. Using deletion mutants, we show that Relish is specifically required for the induction of the humoral immune response, including both antibacterial and antifungal peptides. As a result, the Relish mutants are very sensitive to infection. A single cell of E. cloacae is sufficient to kill a mutant fly, and the mutants show increased susceptibility to fungal infection. In contrast, the blood cell population, the hematopoietic organs, and the phagocytic, encapsulation, and melanization responses are normal. Our results illustrate the importance of the humoral response in Drosophila immunity and demonstrate that Relish plays a key role in this response.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Cellbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Cell Biology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Animals

Anti-Bacterial Agents

Anti-Infective Agents/metabolism

Antibody Formation/genetics/*immunology

Antifungal Agents/metabolism

Bacteria/immunology

Cloning; Molecular

Drosophila Proteins

Drosophila melanogaster/cytology/genetics/*immunology/microbiology

Exons/genetics

Fungi/immunology

Genes; Insect/genetics/physiology

Hemocytes/immunology

Immunity; Cellular/genetics/*immunology

Introns/genetics

Larva/cytology/immunology/microbiology

Models; Immunological

Molecular Sequence Data

Peptides/genetics/metabolism

Phagocytosis/immunology

Sequence Deletion/genetics

Signal Transduction

Transcription Factors/genetics/*immunology

Up-Regulation

Cell biology

Cellbiology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)