Reveals Niche Differences Between Highly Pathogenic and Closely Related Strains of spp.

, a highly virulent bacteria that causes the zoonotic disease tularemia, is considered a potential agent of biological warfare and bioterrorism. Although the host range for several species within the is known, little is known about the natural reservoirs of various species. The lack of knowledge regarding the environmental fates of these pathogens greatly reduces the possibilities for microbial risk assessments. The greater wax moth ( is an insect of the order that has been used as an alternative model to study microbial infection during recent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate as a model system for studies of human pathogenic and closely related opportunistic and non-pathogenic strains within the genus. The employed larvae model demonstrated differences in lethality between human pathogenic and human non-pathogenic or opportunistic species. The and strains were significantly more virulent in the model than the strains of human pathogens and . Our data show that is a possible of insect immunity for studies of both opportunistic and virulent lineages of spp., that produces inverse results regarding lethality in and incapacitating disease in humans. The results provide insight into the potential host specificity of and closely related members of the same genus, thus increasing our present understanding of spp. ecology.