P. F. Vale

IMD-mediated innate immune priming increases Drosophila survival and reduces pathogen transmission

This study shows that immune priming in Drosophila enhances survival and reduces pathogen transmission by requiring the IMD pathway and Diptericin-B.

Mitochondrial genome variation affects humoral and cell-mediated innate immune responses and infection outcomes

This study shows that mitochondrial DNA variation influences innate immune responses and infection outcomes in Drosophila by affecting gene expression and immune cell function.

Mitochondrial background can explain variable costs of immune deployment

The paper investigates how mitochondrial variation affects the costs of immune stimulation in Drosophila, finding mitotype-specific effects on lifespan, fecundity, and locomotor activity.

Ageing leads to nonspecific antimicrobial peptide responses in Drosophila melanogaster

This study shows that ageing in Drosophila melanogaster reduces the specificity of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) responses, requiring multiple AMPs for survival, while young flies can resist infections with single AMPs.

The restriction factor pastrel is associated with host vigor, viral titer, and variation in disease tolerance during Drosophila C Virus infection

This study investigates the role of the Drosophila restriction factor pastrel in resistance and disease tolerance to DCV infection, finding its impact on viral titers, host survival, and fecundity.

Host and pathogen drivers of infection-induced changes in social aggregation behavior

This study examines how bacterial infection affects social aggregation behavior in Drosophila melanogaster, finding dose- and sex-specific changes in social proximity.

Mechanisms of damage prevention, signalling, and repair impact disease tolerance

This study investigates how damage prevention, signaling, and repair mechanisms influence disease tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster, revealing sex-specific differences in tolerance to bacterial infection.

Negative immune regulation contributes to disease tolerance in Drosophila

This study shows that negative immune regulation in Drosophila contributes to disease tolerance by increasing mortality despite reduced bacterial loads.

Duox and Jak/Stat signalling influence disease tolerance in Drosophila during Pseudomonas entomophila infection

This study shows that Duox and Jak/Stat signaling affect disease tolerance in Drosophila during Pseudomonas entomophila infection, with sex-specific effects.

Epidemiological dynamics of viral infection in a marine pico-eukaryote

The paper uses epidemiological models to show that periodic viral re-seeding, not resistance costs, explains the persistence of susceptible hosts in natural populations of Ostreococcus tauri.

Carry on caring: infected females maintain their level of parental care despite suffering high mortality

This study investigates how female burying beetles respond to infection by maintaining parental care despite increased mortality.

Population-Level Disease Dynamics Reflect Individual Heterogeneities in Transmission

The paper integrates experimental data on host heterogeneity with epidemiological simulations to show how individual differences in social behavior, infectiousness, and infection duration affect disease transmission at the population level.

Dissecting genetic and sex-specific host heterogeneity in pathogen transmission potential

The paper examines how genetic and sex-specific host variation influences disease transmission in Drosophila, finding that ~15% of transmission heterogeneity is explained by interactions between genetic background and sex.

Viral infection causes sex-specific changes in fruit fly social aggregation behaviour

This study examines sex-specific changes in social aggregation and locomotor activity in fruit flies infected with Drosophila C Virus, finding no effect on activity or sleep but sex-specific effects on social behavior.

Dietary protein mediates terminal investment in egg quantity or quality following bacterial gut infection in Drosophila

This study shows that dietary protein influences terminal investment strategies in Drosophila after bacterial infection, with high protein diets increasing egg number and low protein diets improving egg viability.

Non-linear disease tolerance curves reveal distinct components of host responses to viral infection

This study shows that non-linear models better capture host responses to viral infection than linear models, revealing sex-specific differences in tolerance mediated by G9a.

Costs and benefits of sub-lethal Drosophila C virus infection

This study investigates the physiological and behavioral effects of sub-lethal Drosophila C Virus infection on Drosophila melanogaster, finding significant fitness impacts that vary with host genotype, sex, and pathogen concentration.