Functional characterization of Paillotin: An immune peptide regulated by the Imd pathway with pathogen-specific roles in Drosophila immunity

Insects, such as Drosophila melanogaster, rely on innate immune defenses to combat microbial threats. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play an important role in limiting pathogen entry and colonization. Despite intensive research into the regulation and biochemical properties of AMPs, their exact significance in vivo has remained uncertain due to the challenges of mutating small genes. Fortunately, recent technologies have enabled the mutation of individual AMP genes, overcome previous obstacles, and opened new avenues for research. In this study, we characterized one novel host-defense peptide, Paillotin (IM18, CG33706), using loss-of-function mutants. Paillotin is an ancient host defense peptide of Diptera, regulated by the Imd pathway. Loss of Paillotin does not impact the activity of either the Imd or Toll pathways. Importantly, we found that Paillotin mutants are viable but exhibit increased susceptibility to specific infections, particularly Providencia burhodogranariea. Paillotin wa..., , # Functional characterization of Paillotin: An immune peptide regulated by the Imd pathway with pathogen-specific roles in *Drosophila* immunity

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj77k](10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj77k)

## Description of the data and file structure

This folder contains all the raw data from the experiments. Each ZIP archive includes the raw data corresponding to each figure, provided in either Prism or Excel format. The code used for the survival analysis is also included.

**# Figure_1 Data.zip**

This folder contains annotated sequence files and alignment data supporting **Figure 1A** and **Figure 1B**, which illustrate the **genomic context**, **promoter structure**, and **sequence conservation** of the Paillotin (IM18) peptide across dipteran species.

\## File Descriptions

1\. `Fig1a_Paillotin_promoter_region.gb`

\- Genbank format file containing annotation of the **Pai-RA/CG10332-RA** and **Pai-RB** promoter regions.

\- Highlights immune-related transcription factor bi...,