Drosophila melanogaster midgut transcriptome analysis after an oral infection by the entomopathogen bacteria Serratia marcescens

Drosophila melanogaster oral infection by the entomopathogen bacteria Serratia marcescens trigger, at the midgut level, a drastic phenotype during the early phase of the exposure. In response to Serratia marcescens virulence factors the enterocytes present a rapid formation of megamitochondria and a subsequent controlled extrusion of the cytoplasm along with damaged organelles, which may constitute a repair mechanism. This results in a thin intestinal epithelium that then recovers its original shape in just a few hours. In order to identify, at the midgut level, the transcriptional modifications induced by Serratia marcescens during this early phase of the infection, we performed a RNAseq transcriptomics analysis of the flies intestine three hours after bacteria ingestion. We found that 144 genes were significantly induced and that 34 genes were repressed at this time point in comparison to the non infected midguts.