deletions | additions       diff --git a/emph_Francisella_tularensis_is_a__.tex b/emph_Francisella_tularensis_is_a__.tex  index c8d125b..2429ad4 100644  --- a/emph_Francisella_tularensis_is_a__.tex  +++ b/emph_Francisella_tularensis_is_a__.tex 
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\textbf{Introduction}  \emph{Francisella tularensis} is a non-specific pathogen that causes lethal disease in at least 190 different species of mammals, 23 birds, 3 amphibians and 88 invertebrates (Morner and Addison, 2001). In experimental hosts, \emph{F. tularensis} invades and replicates within a wide variety of phagocytic and non-phagocytic cells (ref) and several studies have demonstrated that \emph{F. tularensis} survives engulfment by bacterivorous protists, often escaping from the food vacuole and replicating within the cytosol (Abd et al 2003; Lauriano et al 2004; others). While \emph{F. tularensis} is highly infectious, with 10 or fewer cells constituting an infectious dose in some cases (refs), the close relative \emph{Francisella philomiragia} is only mildly pathogenic in humans or other mammals (refs). Despite the fact that it is regularly isolated from aquatic environments and soil, human infection is limited to cases of near drowning or severely immunocompromised patients (refs). \emph{F. philomiragia} is, however, able to survive phagocytosis and replicate within the cytosol of amoeba (Verhoeven et al 2010). These observations suggest that \emph{Francisella} species including \emph{F. tularensis} possesses a core virulence program that targets evolutionarily conserved factors or pathways common to eukaryia.  
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Here, we have developed the tropical cockroach \emph{B. dubia} as an alternative insect host for further investigation of \emph{F. tularensis} LVS. \emph{B. dubia} roaches offer multiple advantages to current invertebrate models; they are robust and long lived, easy to rear in the lab, do not pupate, thrive at 37C, can be safely inoculated using a plastic pipette tip, and offer advanced studies through airway-specific inoculation and implantations of medical devices. In our investigation, we used \emph{F. tularensis} LVS and the LVS mutants $\Delta dipA, \Delta dsbA, \Delta iglC, and \Delta deoB$ to study the host-pathogen interaction with \emph{B. dubia} roaches. We found that the mortality rate of roaches was proportional to number of bacteria inoculated, and confirmed deletion mutant strains that are attenuated in mice are also attenuated in this roach model.