Toll receptor-mediated Drosophila immune response requires Dif, an NF-κB factor

  1. Xiangjun Meng,
  2. Bhupinder S. Khanuja, and
  3. Y. Tony Ip
  1. Program in Molecular Medicine, Department of Cell Biology, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605 USA

Abstract

The induction of immunity genes in Drosophila has been proposed to be dependent on Dorsal, Dif, and Relish, the NF-κB-related factors. Here we provide genetic evidence that Dif is required for the induction of only a subset of antimicrobial peptide genes. The results show that the presence of Dif without Dorsal is sufficient to mediate the induction of drosomycin anddefensin. We also demonstrate that Dif is a downstream component of the Toll signaling pathway in activating thedrosomycin expression. These results reveal that individual members of the NF-κB family in Drosophila have distinct roles in immunity and development.

Keywords

Footnotes

  • Corresponding author.

  • E-MAIL Tony.Ip{at}ummed.edu; FAX (508) 856-4289.

    • Received November 14, 1998.
    • Accepted February 2, 1999.
| Table of Contents

Life Science Alliance