Shu Runhang, Hahn Daniel A, Jurkevitch Edouard, Liburd Oscar E, Yuval Boaz, Wong Adam Chun-Nin
Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.
UF Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.
Front Microbiol. 2021 May 10;12:656406. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.656406. eCollection 2021.
There is growing evidence that symbiotic microbes can influence multiple nutrition-related behaviors of their hosts, including locomotion, feeding, and foraging. However, how the microbiome affects nutrition-related behavior is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate clear sexual dimorphism in how the microbiome affects foraging behavior of a frugivorous fruit fly, Female flies deprived of their microbiome (axenic) were consistently less active in foraging on fruits than their conventional counterparts, even though they were more susceptible to starvation and starvation-induced locomotion was notably more elevated in axenic than conventional females. Such behavioral change was not observed in male flies. The lag of axenic female flies but not male flies to forage on fruits is associated with lower oviposition by axenic flies, and mirrored by reduced food seeking observed in virgin females when compared to mated, gravid females. In contrast to foraging intensity being highly dependent on the microbiome, conventional and axenic flies of both sexes showed relatively consistent and similar fruit preferences in foraging and oviposition, with raspberries being preferred among the fruits tested. Collectively, this work highlights a clear sex-specific effect of the microbiome on foraging and locomotion behaviors in flies, an important first step toward identifying specific mechanisms that may drive the modulation of insect behavior by interactions between the host, the microbiome, and food.
越来越多的证据表明，共生微生物能够影响宿主多种与营养相关的行为，包括运动、进食和觅食。然而，微生物组如何影响与营养相关的行为在很大程度上尚不清楚。在此，我们证明了微生物组对食果果蝇觅食行为的影响存在明显的性别差异。无菌的雌性果蝇与正常果蝇相比，在水果上觅食时的活跃度持续较低，尽管它们更容易饥饿，而且无菌雌性果蝇因饥饿引起的运动明显比正常雌性果蝇更剧烈。而在雄性果蝇中未观察到这种行为变化。无菌雌性果蝇而非雄性果蝇在水果上觅食的滞后与无菌果蝇较低的产卵量有关，并且与未交配的处女雌性果蝇相比，已交配的妊娠雌性果蝇的食物搜寻减少的情况相似。与觅食强度高度依赖微生物组不同，正常和无菌的雌雄果蝇在觅食和产卵时对水果的偏好相对一致且相似，在所测试的水果中，树莓更受青睐。总体而言，这项研究突出了微生物组对果蝇觅食和运动行为具有明显的性别特异性影响，这是朝着确定宿主、微生物组和食物之间的相互作用可能驱动昆虫行为调节的具体机制迈出的重要第一步。
