Galleria mellonella as a model host for microbiological and toxin research

Mammals are widely used by microbiologists as a model host species to study infectious diseases of humans and domesticated livestock. These studies have been pivotal for our understanding of mechanisms of virulence and have allowed the development of diagnostics, pre-treatments and therapies for disease. However, over the past decade we have seen efforts to identify organisms which can be used as alternatives to mammals for these studies. The drivers for this are complex and multifactorial and include cost, ethical and scientific considerations. Galleria mellonella have been used as an alternative infection model since the 1980s and its utility for the study of bacterial disease and antimicrobial discovery was recently comprehensively reviewed. The wider applications of G. mellonella as a model host, including its susceptibility to 29 species of fungi, 7 viruses, 1 species of parasite and 16 biological toxins, are described in this perspective. In addition, the latest developments in the standardisation of G. mellonella larvae for research purposes has been reviewed.