Insect immune resistance to parasitoids

TLDR

Insect host–parasitoid interactions are complex, involving physiological, biochemical, and genetic interactions, and immune‑competent hosts mount a rapid blood‑cell mediated response that destroys and melanotically encapsulates parasitoids, with recent progress in identifying key response components thanks to molecular tools. The review examines components of Drosophila’s innate immune response to study non‑self recognition and immune cell signaling. The review covers hematopoiesis, hemocyte proliferation and adhesion, melanogenesis with cytotoxic molecules, and genetic aspects of host–parasitoid interaction.

Abstract

Abstract Insect host—parasitoid interactions involve complex physiological, biochemical and genetic interactions. Against endoparasitoids, immune‐competent hosts initiate a blood cell‐mediated response that quickly destroys the intruders and envelops them in a multilayered melanotic capsule. During the past decade, considerable progress has been made in identifying some of the critical components of the host response, mainly because of the use of efficient molecular tools. This review examines some of the components of the innate immune response of Drosophila , an insect that has served as an exceptionally good experimental model for studying non‐self recognition processes and immune cell signaling mechanisms. Topics considered in this review include hematopoiesis, proliferation and adhesion of hemocytes, melanogenesis and associated cytotoxic molecules, and the genetic aspects of the host‐parasitoid interaction.