A prior exposure to Serratia marcescens or xenobiotics primes Drosophila enterocytes against a recurring cytoplasmic purge

The cytoplasmic extrusion of enterocytes is a fast response to an exposure to pore-forming toxin (PFT)-producing bacteria whereby their apical cytoplasm is extruded into the intestinal lumen. As a result of this purge, the intestinal epithelium becomes thin prior to a subsequent recovery. We report here that the ingestion of ethanol or caffeine induces a similar response, which suggests that a common purging process is triggered by bacterial toxins and abiotic toxicants. We also delineate an additional mechanism that is initiated by these stimuli that we refer to as priming. The initial exposure of the intestinal epithelium to either PFT or xenobiotics protects enterocytes against a further round of purging upon a second bacterial infection. Priming prevents the epithelium from being persistently thin in the context of chronic intestinal infections. We have identified the upper part of the p38b MAPK pathway as well as the homeobox-containing transcription factors E5/EMS as being required for priming and not for the regrowth of enterocytes after the cytoplasmic purge. Unexpectedly, the priming process appears to function cell-nonautonomously. Our findings suggest that the cytoplasmic purge extrusion has been selected because it constitutes a fast reaction to accidental exposure to bacterial toxins or toxicants.