ECSIT and infection: Interestingly, in these experiments, genes found responding to acute immunostimulation in a previous study [58], but not canonical immune genes [57] as a group were significantly regulated across all infection types, tissues and timepoints, suggesting that non-canonical immune genes may be important in moderating local and systemic defense responses to Nosema. However, in co-infected workers, we did note changes in select members (e.g. pelle, ECSIT) of the Toll signaling pathway which is thought to defend insects against fungi [56].