Insect immunity: the guardian of homeostasis and symbiosis

Chairperson: Elena LEVASHINA
Vector Biology Unit, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin 10117, Germany
Phone: +49 30 284 60 223
Email: levashina@mpiib-berlin.mpg.de 

Vice-chairperson: : Anna ZAIDMAN-REMY
Laboratoire BF2i - UMR INRAE/INSA Lyon, Bâtiment Pasteur, 20, avenue Albert Einstein, 69621 Villeurbanne, France
Phone: +33 4 72 43 76 01
Email: anna.zaidman@insa-lyon.fr 

The study of insect immune defenses has fascinated scientists since the emergence of germ theory in the 19th century. Early interest centered around their role in transmitting human diseases, protecting economically important species like honey bees and silkworms, exploiting pathogens for biological pest control, and using insects as models to understand broader immune mechanisms.

Over the past century, scientific advancements have led to a deep and coherent understanding of insect immune systems, including the molecular recognition of pathogens, immune signaling pathways, and the effector mechanisms. Genomic and experimental research has revealed conserved immune strategies shared across diverse organisms, from bacteria to mammals. Despite these insights, important questions regarding the function of immune responses within the complex physiological context of the whole organism remain incompletely understood.

This sixth edition of the prestigious Jacques Monod Conference pushes the field forward by aiming to bridge detailed mechanistic insights with broader biological processes such as tissue homeostasis. Central themes include the activation and regulation of immunity, life cycle-dependent immune dynamics, inter-tissue communication, symbiotic interactions, and the evolutionary ecology of immune responses. Leveraging advances in RNAi, CRISPR/Cas9, and sequencing technologies, the conference emphasizes a shift toward studying insect immunity within natural populations and environmental contexts. This integrative approach offers unique value in expanding our understanding of immune principles not only critical to insect survival but also relevant to broader biological and ecological systems.

Invited speakers

(provisional titles)

Keynote lectures:

• Jules Hoffmann (Strasbourg, France) 
  Perspectives in insect immunity

• Emily Troemel (San Diego, USA) 
  Immunity against intracellular infections of the C. elegans intestine

Session 1: Mechanisms of activation and regulation of the immune system

• Ronald Van Rij (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) 
  Antiviral defense in insects: small RNAs and beyond

• Dominique Ferrandon (Strasbourg, France) 
  A key aspect of Toll-mediated host defenses against infections is resilience to secreted microbial toxins

• Joao Marques (Strasbourg, France) 
  The dark side of mosquito immunity: phagocytes promote viral infection

• Elena Levashina (Berlin, Germany) 
  Immune regulation in malaria mosquitoes

Session 2: Regulation and dysregulation of immune responses throughout the life cycle

• Tiina Susanna Salminen (Tampere, Finland) 
  Mitochondrial perturbations enhance cell mediated innate immune responses in Drosophila
• Gill Storelli (Heidelberg, Germany) 
  Bacterial control of insect gut physiology
• Tina Murkerjee (Bangalor, India) 
  The evolutionary roots of mosquito vector competence: the sensory superpowers
• Julien Royet (Marseille, France) 
  Bacteria sensing by the fly sensory nervous system
• Nathalie Stroeymeyt (Bristol, UK) 
  Organisational immunity in social insects: The role of socio-spatial structure in mitigating epidemic risk

Session 3: Spatio-temporal regulation of immune responses and inter-tissue communication

• Jiwon Shim (South Korea) 
  Immune cells beyond immunity: Drosophila hemocytes in animal physiology
• Carla Saleh (Paris, France) 
  Infection-induced aging as a higher-order immune response
• Peter Mergaert (Paris, France) 
  Role of immunity effectors in the assembly of the gut microbiota in the bean bug Riptortus pedestris
• Will Wood (Edinburgh, UK) 
  Detecting death and damage in Drosophila
• Armel Gallet (Nice, France) 
  How does Drosophila deal and manage intestinal infection by the environmental sporulating bacteria of the Bacillus cereus group? 

Session 4: Immunity and symbiosis/Immunité et symbiose

• Anna Zaidman-Rémy (Lyon, France) 
  Insect immune system and bacterial virulence factors in nutritional endosymbiosis
• Hassan Salem (Tübingen, Germany) 
  Fidelity in co-diversified symbiosis 
• Renata Matos (Lyon, France) 
  Bacterial influence on host response to malnutrition: role of prophage-induced lysis
• Olivier Duron (Montpellier, France) 
  Rethinking microbiome studies in ticks: escaping the medical bias 
• Brian Weiss (New Haven, USA) 
  Tripartite metabolic interactions between the tsetse fly, its endosymbionts, and African trypanosomes mediate disease transmission

Session 5: Ecology and Evolution of insect immune defenses

• Sophie Armitage (Berlin, Germany) 
  Immune defences from the wild to the lab
• Greg Hurst (Liverpool, UK) 
  How insects evolve to rescue males from male-killing bacteria
• Yukako Hattori (Kyoto, Japan) 
  Understanding the ecology and function of Drosophila-associated microbes in natural environments
• Lena Wilfert (Ulm, Germany) 
  Good bug, bad bug - host-pathogen-symbiont interactions in bees
• Ann Tate (Nashville, USA) 
  The evolutionary maintenance of variation in the brakes of innate immune signaling
  

Deadline for application: March 4, 2026

Registration fee (including board and lodging)

• 560 € for PhD students
• 780 € for other participants

Application for registration 

The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should deposit online before the deadline.

• their curriculum vitae
• the proof of their student status
• the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
• the abstract of their presentation:

The abstract must respect the following template:

• First line: title
• Second line: list of authors
• Third line: author's addresses
• Fourth line: e-mail of the presenting author

Abstract should not exceed 600 words. No figures.

After the deadline, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.