{
  "abstract": "Phenotypic heterogeneity is often encountered during infection but remains challenging to investigate in vivo. Here, using the entomopathogenic spore-former Bacillus thuringiensis with the Galleria mellonella insect larva infection model and Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting (FACS), we present a workflow that enables the isolation of bacterial subpopulations in distinct physiological states, directly from infected hosts, for downstream characterization. Host-derived debris and the low bacterial recovery after sorting represent major limitations of in vivo-derived FACS approaches. By combining pre-sorting filtration, optimized FACS parameters, and post-sorting processing, the workflow minimizes host-derived contamination while preserving bacterial viability and physiological integrity. The recovered subpopulations are suitable for a wide range of downstream characterization, including reinfection experiments, tolerance assays, infection cycle studies and competition assays. As an illustrative application, we used this method on larvae infected with a strain harboring a fluorescent reporter that marks cells irreversibly committed to sporulation. Sporulating and non-sporulating bacteria recovered from the insects were successfully separated and subsequently used in reinfection experiments. • Isolation of physiologically distinct bacterial subpopulations directly from infected insect hosts • FACS-based separation of bacterial subpopulations using fluorescent reporters • Recovery of viable sorted bacterial populations for downstream characterization.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Micalis Institute, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, Jouy-en-Josas, 78350, France.",
    "Unité Mixte de Recherches (UMR) 1282 Infectiologie et Santé Publique, INRAE Centre Val de Loire, Université François Rabelais de Tours, Nouzilly, France.",
    "Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Gif-sur-Yvette, France."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hasna Toukabri"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Christophe Buisson"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yves Le Vern"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Alix Sausset"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mickaël Bourge",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4111-6208"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Leyla Slamti"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cez4wa2k9k39z.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.mex.2026.104194",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13677978",
  "id": "cez4wa2k9k39z",
  "issns": [
    "2215-0161"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05839735v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.sdv"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1109|Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220833463",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05839735/document",
  "pmcid": "PMC13677978",
  "pmid": "42898643",
  "published": "2026-10-07",
  "publisher": "Elsevier",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cez4wa2k9k39z.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:01Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05839735",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05839735v1"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:37Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42898643",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898643"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1109|Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences",
      "subfield": "zoology-behaviour"
    }
  ],
  "title": "FACS-based isolation and recovery of physiologically distinct bacterial subpopulations from infected insect hosts",
  "title_text": "FACS-based isolation and recovery of physiologically distinct bacterial subpopulations from infected insect hosts",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cez4wa2k9k39z",
  "venue": "MethodsX",
  "versions": []
}