Transcriptomic analyses of non-model Drosophilidae reveals novel AMP candidates

In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of characterizing immune responses to bacterial-challenge in non-model, less easily cultured species of Drosophilidae by performing comparative transcriptomic analysis on individual first-generation wild-derived flies. We selected three common European species for analysis, Hirtodrosophila cameraria, Hirtodrosophila confusa, and Scaptodrosophila deflexa, each of which is highly divergent from D. melanogaster (more than 45 Mya) and other well-studied taxa. Our findings suggest that despite deep evolutionary divergence, bacterial infection induces measurable and broadly similar transcriptional responses in H. cameraria and H. confusa species but not in the more distant S. deflexa, a pattern that could potentially be shaped by differences in microbiota, immune strategy, or symbiont-mediated protection.