Microbiota Effects on Ethanol Tolerance in Drosophila Melanogaster

Authors

Rebekah Rushforth, Brigham Young University
John Chaston, Brigham Young University

Keywords

microbiota effects, ethanol tolerance, drosophila melanogaster

College

Life Sciences

Department

Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, is one of the primary organisms for genetic study because it contains a small genome that allows for easy study of mutations. Furthermore, Drosophila is a choice model for host genetics. The human gut microbiome contains hundreds to thousands of different species of microbiota; where the microbiota of a fruit fly is approximately 40 species. In addition, we can make the flies axenic (bacteria free). This allows us to mono or multi associate different bacteria groups in order to identify causation in phenotype changes in the host organism. In this project, we test axenic flies and gnotobiotic (5 main species of bacterium most common in fruit flies) flies to examine how the microbiota influence the flies’ ethanol tolerance.

Recommended Citation

Rushforth, Rebekah and Chaston, John (2018) "Microbiota Effects on Ethanol Tolerance in Drosophila Melanogaster," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2018: Iss. 1, Article 179.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2018/iss1/179