Microbial modulation of host foraging behavior: Insights from Drosophila

A central question in behavioral biology is how environmental and genetic factors shape behavioral traits, allowing for substantial individuality. Homeostatic behaviors like foraging and food preferences are prime examples of genetic predispositions interacting with the food environment to produce diverse feeding habits. However, these programs are further modified by host-associated microbes, suggesting the overall systems controlling behavioral phenotype is far more complex than first anticipated. My lab studies foraging and food choice behaviors in model and non-model Drosophila (D. melanogaster and D. suzukii), using a gnotobiotic system that permits precise configuration of the fly microbiome. In this presentation, I will share our recent findings that suggest host perceptions of food microbial and nutrient cues are shaped by the microbiome; and our ongoing work combining RNAseq, comparative physiology and video tracking behavioral assays to elucidate the mechanisms underlying behavioral modulation by the microbiome.