Gut microbiome modulates Drosophila aggression through octopamine signaling

Yicong Jia,Erjun Ling,Ruxue Kang,Yuxin Pang,Yufeng Pan,Eng King Tan,Kunkun Hu,Shan Jin,Wei Liu,Caihong Han,Lei Geng

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-23041-y

Abstract

Gut microbiome profoundly affects many aspects of host physiology and behaviors. Here we report that gut microbiome modulates aggressive behaviors in Drosophila. We found that germ-free males showed substantial decrease in inter-male aggression, which could be rescued by microbial re-colonization. These germ-free males are not as competitive as wild-type males for mating with females, although they displayed regular levels of locomotor and courtship behaviors. We further found that Drosophila microbiome interacted with diet during a critical developmental period for the proper expression of octopamine and manifestation of aggression in adult males. These findings provide insights into how gut microbiome modulates specific host behaviors through interaction with diet during development.

Highlights

Gut microbiome profoundly affects many aspects of host physiology and behaviors
Given that success in aggressive interactions is reciprocally correlated with fitness for mating, we further explored whether Drosophila microbiome affects male courtship behaviors by investigating courtship behaviors of GF and mixed bacteria (MB) males towards wild-type virgin females
As we found an opposite effect of microbiome on modulating OA levels to a previous study[10], we further measured the total level of OA in brains of GF and MB males with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Summary

Introduction

Gut microbiome profoundly affects many aspects of host physiology and behaviors. Here we report that gut microbiome modulates aggressive behaviors in Drosophila. We further found that Drosophila microbiome interacted with diet during a critical developmental period for the proper expression of octopamine and manifestation of aggression in adult males. These findings provide insights into how gut microbiome modulates specific host behaviors through interaction with diet during development. Alteration of the composition and function of microbiome is tightly associated with various neuropsychiatric disorders—such as social activity, stress, and anxiety-related responses in humans[12] It is largely unclear whether such microbial influences on behaviors stem from neurodevelopment during critical early-life periods or temporarily altered physiology during adulthood. Our findings demonstrate the critical roles of commensal microbiome and diet in shaping aggressive behaviors, and provide a robust paradigm to further study the gut–brain interaction using Drosophila as a model

Methods

Results

Conclusion