An Exploratory Analysis of Transcriptional Responses to Peanut Exposure in Drosophila melanogaster

Much remains to be learned about how the innate immune system responds following exposure to food allergens, such as peanut. Drosophila melanogaster is an untapped model system for examining this topic because of its conserved innate immune pathways, although it lacks adaptive immunity. The objective of this study was to determine if innate immune-regulated genes within the D. melanogaster genome were transcriptionally regulated by exposure to peanut. RNA samples were analyzed by qRT-PCR and next-generation sequencing. qRT-PCR data shows a significant downregulation of Dorsal and Relish at day 24. Next-generation sequencing data identified a limited number of differentially expressed genes at days 15 and 30, including those involved in structural, metabolic, and digestive functions. Taken together, our data suggests modest and limited transcriptional changes associated with peanut exposure. This study provides an initial framework for investigating how food allergens, such as peanut, likely influence innate immune-associated gene expression.