The role of Drosophila microbiota in gut homeostasis and immunity

ABSTRACT

The gut epithelia of virtually all animals harbor complex microbial communities that play an important role in maintaining immune and cellular homeostasis. Gut microbiota have evolutionarily adapted to the host gut environment, serving as key regulators of intestinal stem cells to promote a healthy gut barrier and modulate epithelial self-renewal. Disruption of these populations has been associated with inflammatory disorders or cancerous lesions of the intestine. However, the molecular mechanisms controlling gut-microbe interactions are only partially understood due to the high diversity and biologically dynamic nature of these microorganisms. This article reviews the current knowledge on Drosophila gut microbiota and its role in signaling pathways that are crucial for the induction of distinct homeostatic and immune responses. Thanks to the genetic tractability of Drosophila and its cultivable and simple microbiota, this association model offers new efficient tools for investigating the crosstalk between a host and its microbiota while providing a framework for a better understanding of the ecological and evolutionary roles of the microbiome.

KEYWORDS:

• Drosophila
• innate immunity
• gut microbiota
• gut immunity
• gut homeostasis

Acknowledgments

We thank members of the Department of Biological Sciences at George Washington University for discussions and critical reading of this Review.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Ghada Tafesh-Edwards designed and conceptualized the review. Ghada Tafesh-Edwards prepared the original draft and graphical designs of the review. Ghada Tafesh-Edwards and Ioannis Eleftherianos edited and reviewed the final manuscript. Both authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

No new data were generated or analyzed in support of this research.

Additional information

Funding

This article did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.