Galleria mellonella as an infection model for the multi-host pathogen Streptococcus agalactiae reflects hypervirulence of strains associated with human invasive disease

Abstract

Streptococcus agalactiae, or group B Streptococcus (GBS), infects diverse hosts including humans and economically important species such as cattle and fishes. In the context of human health, GBS is a major cause of neonatal infections and an emerging cause of invasive disease in adults and of foodborne disease in Southeast Asia. Here we show that GBS is able to establish a systemic infection in Galleria mellonella larvae that is associated with extensive bacterial replication and dose-dependent larval survival. This infection model is suitable for use with GBS isolates from both homeothermic and poikilothermic hosts. Hypervirulent sequence types (ST) associated with invasive human disease in neonates (ST17) or adults (ST283) show increased virulence in this model, indicating it may be useful in studying GBS virulence determinants, albeit with limitations for some host-specific virulence factors. In addition, we demonstrate that larval survival can be afforded by antibiotic treatment and so the model may also be useful in the development of novel anti-GBS strategies. The use of G. mellonella in GBS research has the potential to provide a low-cost infection model that could reduce the number of vertebrates used in the study of GBS infection.