The rapid induction of sid expression indicates that its induction is a response to stimuli that mimics activation of the serine proteolytic pathway activated during the fly��s response to wounding. It has been well documented that resistance and tolerance are important factors to consider when analyzing the effects of pathogens on infected hosts. Resistance and tolerance are context-dependent and can be measured by various parameters that include pathogen load and health of the host. For example, it has been demonstrated that a single gene mutation in the melanization pathway of Drosophila can affect both resistance and tolerance to a variety of pathogens. Our experiments have Nexturastat A revealed that SID partially protects the host against pathogens and may indeed be involved in both resistance and tolerance to bacterial infections. Accumulation of DNA due to the absence or mutation of DNases has been linked to pathological conditions in various organisms due to increase inflammation and the over-production of cytokines and other Pyridoxine hydrochloride effectors. As can be seen in Figure 7B and C, reduction of sid expression resulted in higher bacterial loads by 48 h post-infection with either E. coli or M. luteus infection as compared to wild-type control flies. It is important to point out that the most significant drop in fly viability in sid-deficient flies occurred within the first 48 h of infection and this correlates with the lack of pathogen clearance during this period. Although the sid-deficient flies eventually clear the pathogens, they appear to be slower at achieving clearance perhaps due to excess pathogen-derived nucleic acids in the system. These results point to lower resistance of the sid-deficient flies to bacterial infection as compared to control flies. However bacterial load was subsequently reduced to near control levels by five days of infection implying that other anti-microbial mechanisms are involved in pathogen clearance. If the main function of SID during infection is to clear excess nucleic acids generated by bacterial lysis by the normal AMP response, then reduction of this enzyme would result in excess nucleic acids in the infected flies.