The BaramicinA gene is required at several steps of the host defense against Enterococcus faecalis and Metarhizium robertsii in a septic wound infection model in Drosophila melanogaster

The host defense against several Gram-positive bacterial and fungal infections is mostly mediated by the Toll pathway in Drosophila , which regulates the expression of multiple genes including effectors of the innate immune response. One such potential effector is IMPPP/BaraA, a precursor protein that is processed at furin cleavage sites into an armamentarium of small DIM peptides that display a high degree of sequence similarity. We report here the generation of multiple mutants affecting this gene. Our phenotypic analysis revealed a specific sensitivity to pathogens belonging to distinct kingdoms, the Gram-positive bacterium Enterococcus faecalis and the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae , only in septic injury models of infection. Unexpectedly, we failed to reveal a consistently increased microbial burden in the mutant flies infected with either of these microorganisms, opening the possibility for a role of BaraA in resilience rather than in resistance, which we were however unable to confirm. We also found that some BaraA-derived DIM peptides display an antimicrobial activity at millimolar concentrations in vitro . BaraA is additionally required for an efficient cleavage of pro-phenol oxidase into an active enzyme. BaraA is also involved in the cellular host defense, but through distinct mechanisms: it needs to be expressed in hemocytes for an efficient response solely to E. faecalis infection whereas it is required for the uptake by plasmatocytes of M. robertsii conidia. We propose a model whereby BaraA secreted by hemocytes may act at a very short range and protect host tissues or organs targeted specifically by E. faecalis . This study thus reveals an unexpected functional complexity of a potential effector of the Toll pathway in the host defense against specific infections. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.