thuringiensis bacterium itself. Previously, we demonstrated that B. thuringiensis toxin had substantially reduced ability to kill gypsy moth and three other species of lepidopteran larvae that had been treated with antibiotics, and that ingestion of an enteric-derived selleck bacterium significantly increased lethality of subsequent ingestion of B. thuringiensis [30, 31]. We observed that the enteric

bacterium, Enterobacter sp. NAB3, grew to high population densities in vitro in hemolymph extracted from live gypsy moth larvae, whereas B. thuringiensis was rapidly cleared, which is inconsistent with the model of B. thuringiensis bacteremia as a cause of larval death. However, these results did not distinguish between the possibilities that gut bacteria contribute to B. thuringiensis-induced lethality by bacteremia or by see more another mechanism. There is increasing recognition that an important feature of gut microbiota of both invertebrates and vertebrates is their ability to shape and modulate the host immune response [32–36]. In certain circumstances this effect can become deleterious to the host. For instance, uncontrolled

activation of the immune response by enteric bacteria leads to chronic infection and pathogenesis in both invertebrates and vertebrates [37–39]. Interestingly, some recent studies have also linked activation of the immune response of Lepidoptera to ingestion PRKD3 of non-lethal doses of B. thuringiensis. For example, ingestion of low doses of B. thuringiensis Selleckchem Androgen Receptor Antagonist by Galleria mellonella larvae increased both oxidative stress levels in the gut [40] and the phagocytic activity of hemocytes [41].

In Trichoplusia ni larvae, exposure to B. thuringiensis reduced both the numbers of hemocytes and components of the humoral immune response (antimicrobial peptides and phenoloxidase activity) [42]. It remains unclear what effectors trigger this immune modulation, and the contribution of enteric bacteria to this response is not known. Modulation of the host immune response could be an indirect mechanism by which gut microbiota alter susceptibility to B. thuringiensis. As an initial step to distinguish between a direct or host-mediated role of gut microbiota in larval death following the ingestion of B. thuringiensis, we examined the possible association between the host immune response and larval susceptibility to B. thuringiensis. Results Effects of intra-hemocoelic injection of B. thuringiensis and Enterobacter sp. NAB3 on larval hemolymph Injections of greater than 107 cells of an over-night culture of either B. thuringiensis or Enterobacter sp. NAB3 into the hemocoel of gypsy moth larvae led to a pronounced cellular and humoral immune response (Figure 1). In hemolymph sampled from larvae 24 h after injection of Enterobacter sp.