Authors: Rebecca Kreutz
Mentors: John Chaston
Insitution: Brigham Young University
Previous studies of the relationship between Drosophila melanogaster and its microbiome have shown that the bacteria in fruit flies can have a large effect on life history strategy. Higher proportions of Acetobacter, a genus of aerobic bacteria, correlate with faster development to reproductive maturity and higher, earlier fecundity. Greater proportions of Lactobacillus, a genus of anaerobic bacteria, correlate with lower initial reproduction but longer lifespan and maintenance of somatic cells. Despite this, the determinants of a Drosophila’s microbiome are still not well understood. This study will explore the relationship between the depth of the food that flies mature in and the proportion of anaerobic bacteria found in the flies. To test this, I will prepare vials with varying amounts of food, place fly eggs in them, inoculate them with a mixture of Acetobacter and Lactobacillus, homogenize the flies that mature, and compare the proportions of bacteria across the different food depths. Greater food depth will mimic food that is more rotten, because as fruit rots it becomes softer and the fly larvae are able to burrow deeper. As the flies gain greater access to the inside of the fruit, there may be an increase in the proportion of anaerobic bacteria in the fly’s gut, due to the reduced access of the bacteria to the air. Because different food depths can simulate different fruit ages, this study may be able to establish a relationship between the season the flies mature and their microbiome.