Microbiology's next top model: Galleria in the molecular age

ABSTRACT Galleria mellonella has risen to fame as an invertebrate model organism given its ethical advantages, low maintenance costs, rapid reproduction time, short life cycle, high number of progeny, tolerance for human body temperatures, innate immune system and similarities to mammalian host models. It is increasingly being utilised to evaluate in vivo toxicity and efficacy of chemical compounds and antimicrobials, modelling microbial (bacterial, fungal and viral) pathogenicity and assessing host–pathogen interaction during infection. During this molecular age of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and genetic manipulation approaches, our understanding of microbial pathogenicity and host–pathogen interactions has deepened from high-throughput molecular studies performed in G. mellonella. In this review, we describe the use of G. mellonella in a broad range of studies involving omics, drug resistance, functional analysis and host–microbial community relationships. The future of G. mellonella in the molecular age is bright, with a multitude of new approaches and uses for this model from clinical to biotechnological on the horizon. An in-depth discussion of how Galleria mellonella has emerged as a powerful animal model for use in in vivo molecular studies, including proteomics, transcriptomics, microbiome and host-pathogen studies and mutant loss-of-function interrogation.