Robust manipulation of the behavior of by a fungal pathogen in the laboratory.

Many microbes induce striking behavioral changes in their animal hosts, but how they achieve this is poorly understood, especially at the molecular level. Mechanistic understanding has been largely constrained by the lack of an experimental system amenable to molecular manipulation. We recently discovered a strain of the behavior-manipulating fungal pathogen infecting wild , and established methods to infect in the lab. Lab-infected flies manifest the moribund behaviors characteristic of infection: hours before death, they climb upward, extend their proboscides, affixing in place, then raise their wings, clearing a path for infectious spores to launch from their abdomens. We found that invades the nervous system, suggesting a direct means by which the fungus could induce behavioral changes. Given the vast molecular toolkit available for , we believe this new system will enable rapid progress in understanding how manipulates host behavior.