---
OA_type: closed access
_id: '18171'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Defense against pathogens and parasites requires substantial investment of
    energy and resources on part of the host. This makes the host immune function
    dependent on availability and accessibility of resources. A resource deprived
    host is therefore expected to be more susceptible to infections, although empirical
    results do not always align with this prediction. Limiting host access to resources
    can additionally impact within-host pathogen numbers, either directly by altering
    the amount of resources available to the pathogens for proliferation or indirectly
    by altering the efficiency of the host immune system. We tested for the effects
    of host starvation (complete deprivation of resources) on susceptibility to bacterial
    pathogens, and within-host pathogen proliferation, in Drosophila melanogaster
    females. Our results show that starvation increases post-infection mortality of
    the host, but in a pathogen-specific manner. This increase in mortality is always
    accompanied by increased within-host pathogen proliferation. We therefore propose
    that starvation compromises host resistance to bacterial infections in Drosophila
    melanogaster females thereby increasing susceptibility to infections.
acknowledgement: "The authors thank Tejashwini Hegde for logistical support during
  execution of the experiments reported here. The authors thank Prof. P. Cornelis
  (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) for providing the Pseudomonas entomophila
  isolate, Dr. Elio Sucena and Tania Paulo (Instituto Gulbenkian Ciencia, Portugal)
  for providing the Erwinia c. carotovora, and Prof. Brian Lazzaro (Cornell University,
  USA) for providing the Enterococcus faecalis and Providencia rettgeri isolates,
  and Dr. Karan Singh (IISER Mohali, India) for isolating the Staphylococcus succinus
  isolate used in the experiments. The authors also thank Dr. Manas Geeta Arun for
  maintenance of the LH fly populations used in this study.\r\nThe study was funded
  by intra-mural funding from IISER Mohali, India, to NGP. AB was supported by Senior
  Research Fellowship for PhD students from CSIR, Govt. of India. AS was supported
  by Senior Research Fellowship for PhD students from UGC, Govt. of India. SS and
  TM were supported by KVPY fellowships for undergraduate studies from DST, Govt.
  of India."
article_number: '108209'
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Aabeer
  full_name: Basu, Aabeer
  last_name: Basu
- first_name: Aparajita
  full_name: Singh, Aparajita
  last_name: Singh
- first_name: Suhaas
  full_name: Sehgal, Suhaas
  last_name: Sehgal
- first_name: Tanvi
  full_name: Madaan, Tanvi
  id: 419917ac-5355-11ee-ae5a-c952babcaad9
  last_name: Madaan
- first_name: Nagaraj Guru
  full_name: Prasad, Nagaraj Guru
  last_name: Prasad
citation:
  ama: Basu A, Singh A, Sehgal S, Madaan T, Prasad NG. Starvation increases susceptibility
    to bacterial infection and promotes systemic pathogen proliferation in Drosophila
    melanogaster females. <i>Journal of Invertebrate Pathology</i>. 2024;207(11).
    doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209">10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209</a>
  apa: Basu, A., Singh, A., Sehgal, S., Madaan, T., &#38; Prasad, N. G. (2024). Starvation
    increases susceptibility to bacterial infection and promotes systemic pathogen
    proliferation in Drosophila melanogaster females. <i>Journal of Invertebrate Pathology</i>.
    Elsevier. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209</a>
  chicago: Basu, Aabeer, Aparajita Singh, Suhaas Sehgal, Tanvi Madaan, and Nagaraj
    Guru Prasad. “Starvation Increases Susceptibility to Bacterial Infection and Promotes
    Systemic Pathogen Proliferation in Drosophila Melanogaster Females.” <i>Journal
    of Invertebrate Pathology</i>. Elsevier, 2024. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209</a>.
  ieee: A. Basu, A. Singh, S. Sehgal, T. Madaan, and N. G. Prasad, “Starvation increases
    susceptibility to bacterial infection and promotes systemic pathogen proliferation
    in Drosophila melanogaster females,” <i>Journal of Invertebrate Pathology</i>,
    vol. 207, no. 11. Elsevier, 2024.
  ista: Basu A, Singh A, Sehgal S, Madaan T, Prasad NG. 2024. Starvation increases
    susceptibility to bacterial infection and promotes systemic pathogen proliferation
    in Drosophila melanogaster females. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 207(11),
    108209.
  mla: Basu, Aabeer, et al. “Starvation Increases Susceptibility to Bacterial Infection
    and Promotes Systemic Pathogen Proliferation in Drosophila Melanogaster Females.”
    <i>Journal of Invertebrate Pathology</i>, vol. 207, no. 11, 108209, Elsevier,
    2024, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209">10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209</a>.
  short: A. Basu, A. Singh, S. Sehgal, T. Madaan, N.G. Prasad, Journal of Invertebrate
    Pathology 207 (2024).
corr_author: '1'
date_created: 2024-10-06T22:01:11Z
date_published: 2024-11-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-08T09:53:50Z
day: '01'
department:
- _id: SyCr
doi: 10.1016/j.jip.2024.108209
external_id:
  isi:
  - '001327816900001'
  pmid:
  - '39322010'
intvolume: '       207'
isi: 1
issue: '11'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '11'
oa_version: None
pmid: 1
publication: Journal of Invertebrate Pathology
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1096-0805
  issn:
  - 0022-2011
publication_status: published
publisher: Elsevier
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Starvation increases susceptibility to bacterial infection and promotes systemic
  pathogen proliferation in Drosophila melanogaster females
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 207
year: '2024'
...