Methods for using Galleria mellonella as a model host to study fungal pathogenesis

The facile inoculum delivery and handling of the insect Galleria mellonella make it a desirable model for the study of fungal pathogenesis. Here we present methods to study fungal virulence, filamentation and fungal cell associates with insect hemocytes using Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans to illustrate the use of this model. The two types of fungi cause distinct infections; thus, we compare and contrast the infection characteristics observed in G. mellonella. The protocols presented herein can be adapted to the study of other fungal pathogens using G. mellonella as an infection model.