View Program - 63rd Annual Drosophila Research Conference

The microorganisms that are associated with a host are called the microbiota and can provide key benefits to their hosts. For example, the microbiota of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster strongly influences fly life history traits and evolution. Variation in the composition of fruit fly microbiota can influence or determine fly fecundity, life span, and starvation resistance. Importantly, we have observed variation in D. melanogaster microbiota composition in flies that naturally adopt different life history strategies, establishing a link between these fly characteristics. However, one key gap is that we do not know which processes determine variation in microbiota composition in wild fly populations. The goal of this research is to test if three possible environmental factors can influence the abundance of bacterial species in the D. melanogaster microbiota. To do this, I am rearing gnotobiotic flies, inoculated from birth with six bacterial species common to wild flies in conditions that vary by one of three major environmental parameters: temperature, humidity, and photoperiod. Then, I measure changes in whole body microbiota composition of adult flies. I have already performed several temperature replicates and these data showed a strong influence on fly microbiota composition. I still need to perform humidity and photo period replicates. Together, these approaches will show which environmental conditions have the greatest effect on fly microbiota composition.

The influence of environmental factors on the composition of fruit fly microbiota.