Antimicrobial defense and persistent infection in insects.

摘要: During 400 million years of existence, insects have rarely succumbed to the evolution microbial resistance against their potent antimicrobial immune defenses. We found that clearance after infection is extremely fast and induced activity starts increase only when most bacteria (99.5%) been removed. Our experiments showed those survived exposure insect's constitutive response were subsequently more resistant it. These results imply compounds function primarily protect insect persist within body, rather than clear infections. findings suggest understanding management peptides in natural systems might inform medical treatment strategies avoid risk drug resistance.