Division of Molecular Life Science and Center for Cell Signaling Research, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750, South Korea
Unite de Biochimie et Biologie Moleculaire des Insectes, Institut Pasteur, Cedex 15, Paris 75724, France.
A fundamental question that applies to all organisms is how barrier epithelia efficiently manage continuous contact with microorganisms. Here, we show that in Drosophila an extracellular immune-regulated catalase (IRC) mediates a key host defense system that is needed during host-microbe interaction in the gastrointestinal tract. Strikingly, adult flies with severely reduced IRC expression show high mortality rates even after simple ingestion of microbe-contaminated foods. However, despite the central role that the NF-B pathway plays in eliciting antimicrobial responses, NF-B pathway mutant flies are totally resistant to such infections. These results imply that homeostasis of redox balance by IRC is one of the most critical factors affecting host survival during continuous host-microbe interaction in the gastrointestinal tract.