Fruit flies as a minihost model for studying drug activity and virulence in Aspergillus

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in profoundly immunosuppressed patients. The mediocre efficacy of antifungals for IA in clinical practice and an incomplete understanding of the pathogenesis of IA contribute to its overall poor prognosis. Although logistically difficult for large scale use, conventional animal models of IA provide valuable information regarding both antifungal drug efficacy and Aspergillus mutant virulence. However, in the era of introduction of molecular biology techniques for studying Aspergillus and increasing antifungal options, the existing in vivo models of IA might be well complemented by nonvertebrate minihost models such as the Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). Drosophila may offer the distinct advantage of performing fast, inexpensive high-throughput screening of compounds for anti-Aspergillus activity and putative Aspergillus mutants for their role in Aspergillus virulence.