Effects of Dental Bacterial Strain Enterobacter Ludwigii on Drosophila: A Model Organism to Study Host-Microbes Interaction

Abstract

Mouth is the first part of digestive system through which food gets introduced to the digestive tract. An infected oral cavity may result a substandard digestive system and an unhealthy animal. The current study focuses on the effect of 2 mouth bacteria involved in teeth blackening on the growth and development of Drosophila. Various labs are using Drosophila as a model organism to study host-microbes interaction. Once the microbes entered into the gut it secretes various neurosecretory products which can alter the functionality and thus the behaviour of the animal. Taking this idea into consideration, oral bacteria were added to the fly food individually. Flies were allowed to feed on it separately and their entire life cycle, growth and development were monitored. Larvae reared on bacteria containing food showed changes in larvae crawling behaviour, and adults hatched from those larvae showed changes in phototoxic and geotrophic behaviour without showing much changes in their phenotypic characters (structural changes in wing and numerical changes in bristles). Although the flies appear normal in terms structure they undergo time dependent neuronal degeneration. How the microbes can change the neuronal behaviour is an open question at this moment and needs further investigation