The effect of gut microbiota elimination in Drosophila melanogaster: a how-to guide for host-microbiota studies

In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in the effects of the microbiota on the host. Increasingly, we are coming to understand the importance of the gut microbiota in modulating host physiology, ecology, behaviour, and evolution. One method utilized to evaluate the effect of the microbiota is to suppress or eliminate it, and compare the effect on the host with that of untreated individuals. In this study, we evaluate some of these commonly used methods in the model organism, Drosophila melanogaster. We test the efficacy of a low-dose streptomycin diet, egg dechorionation, and an axenic or sterile diet, in the removal of gut bacteria within this species in a fully factorial design. We further determine potential side effects of these methods on host physiology by performing a series of standard physiological assays. Our results showed that individuals from all treatments took significantly longer to develop, and weighed less, compared to normal flies. Males and females that ...近年来，宿主微生物群（microbiota）对宿主的影响受到了学界的广泛关注。当前，我们对肠道微生物群在调控宿主生理、生态、行为与演化过程中的重要性的认知正不断深化。评估微生物群对宿主影响的常用方法之一，是通过抑制或清除宿主的微生物群，将处理组个体与未处理个体对宿主的作用效果进行对比。本研究以模式生物黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）为实验对象，对上述几类常用方法展开评估：我们采用完全析因设计（fully factorial design），测试了低剂量链霉素（streptomycin）饲喂法、卵脱绒毛膜法（egg dechorionation）以及无菌（axenic）饲料饲喂法对该物种肠道细菌的清除效果。此外，我们通过一系列标准生理测定实验，探究了这几种方法对宿主生理的潜在副作用。研究结果显示，与正常果蝇相比，所有处理组的果蝇发育周期均显著延长，体重亦更低。雌雄果蝇……