The humoral antibacterial response of Drosophila

Drosophila , like other insects, responds to the injection of bacteria by the rapid and transient synthesis of a battery of potent antibacterial peptides. Only a few of these peptides have been fully characterized to date. We review our recent data on the control of the expression of a gene encoding one of the induced peptides, i.e. diptericin. Our data highlight the role of proximal cis‐regulatory motifs similar to regulatory elements binding nf‐κb and NF‐IL6 in promoters of some immune genes of mammals. We argue that the Drosophila host defense is homologous to the mammalian acute phase response.