Microbe-dependent and nonspecific effects of procedures to eliminate the resident microbiota from Drosophila melanogaster

Delayed development induced by toxicity to the host can be inherited by a bacterial-dependent, transgenerational effect

Commensal gut bacteria in many species including flies are integral part of their host, and are known to influence its development and homeostasis within generation. Here we report an unexpected impact of host–microbe interactions, which mediates multi-generational, non-Mendelian inheritance of a stress-induced phenotype. We have previously shown that exposure of fly larvae to G418 antibiotic induces transgenerationally heritable phenotypes, including a delay in larval development, gene induction in the gut and morphological changes. We now show that G418 selectively depletes commensal Acetobacter species and that this depletion explains the heritable delay, but not the inheritance of the other phenotypes. Notably, the inheritance of the delay was mediated by a surprising trans-generational effect. Specifically, bacterial removal from F1 embryos did not induce significant delay in F1 larvae, but nonetheless led to a considerable delay in F2. This effect maintains a delay induced by bacterial-independent G418 toxicity to the host. In line with these findings, reintroduction of isolated Acetobacter species prevented the inheritance of the delay. We further show that this prevention is partly mediated by vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) produced by these bacteria; exogenous Riboflavin led to partial prevention and inhibition of Riboflavin synthesis compromised the ability of the bacteria to prevent the inheritance. These results identify host–microbe interactions as a hitherto unrecognized factor capable of mediating non-Mendelian inheritance of a stress-induced phenotype.

Interspecies interactions determine the impact of the gut microbiota on nutrient allocation in Drosophila melanogaster

The animal gut is perpetually exposed to microorganisms, and this microbiota affects development, nutrient allocation, and immune homeostasis. A major challenge is to understand the contribution of individual microbial species and interactions among species in shaping these microbe-dependent traits. Using the Drosophila melanogaster gut microbiota, we tested whether microbe-dependent performance and nutritional traits of Drosophila are functionally modular, i.e., whether the impact of each microbial taxon on host traits is independent of the presence of other microbial taxa. Gnotobiotic flies were constructed with one or a set of five of the Acetobacter and Lactobacillus species which dominate the gut microbiota of conventional flies (Drosophila with untreated microbiota). Axenic (microbiota-free) flies exhibited prolonged development time and elevated glucose and triglyceride contents. The low glucose content of conventional flies was recapitulated in gnotobiotic Drosophila flies colonized with any of the 5 bacterial taxa tested. In contrast, the development rates and triglyceride levels in monocolonized flies varied depending on the taxon present: Acetobacter species supported the largest reductions, while most Lactobacillus species had no effect. Only flies with both Acetobacter and Lactobacillus had triglyceride contents restored to the level in conventional flies. This could be attributed to two processes: Lactobacillus-mediated promotion of Acetobacter abundance in the fly and a significant negative correlation between fly triglyceride content and Acetobacter abundance. We conclude that the microbial basis of host traits varies in both specificity and modularity; microbe-mediated reduction in glucose is relatively nonspecific and modular, while triglyceride content is influenced by interactions among microbes.