Microbiome-Modulated Behavioral Changes in D. Melanogaster

Gut microbiome composition modulates neurological activity through the gut-brain axis. The behavioral impact of this bi-directional signaling pathway is often studied using model organisms such as mice, rats, and other small mammalian species. One of the key steps toward complete microbiome manipulation is microbiome removal, which can cause behavioral changes that are reversible upon re-colonization. Here, we use D. melanogaster as a model organism due to its relatively simple gut microbiome (comprised of only 30 species), rich set of behaviors, and convenience for laboratory analysis. We examine the behavioral impacts of two gut-microbiome removal methods in D. melanogaster: egg dechorionation and streptomycin diet, and holidic media treatment. We use SLEAP, a deep learning-based software, to obtain robust postural tracking data across treatment groups. We then run this data through the unsupervised behavioral pipeline MotionMapper to identify stereotyped behaviors among all flies, and to compare behavioral trends across treatment groups. We find behavioral differences between all treatment groups, with females exhibiting greater variability across groups than males. Future work will examine the behavioral impacts of re-colonization in D. melanogaster.