Stronger together in the microbiome

To study how the microbiome affects their host behaviour, a group of researchers at the Behaviour & Metabolism Lab, used high-tech tools in the fruit fly to show that two gut bacteria establish a metabolic cross-feeding that enables them to grow in diets that lack the nutrients that are essential for their growth and to allow them to change host decision making and reproduction. Results reveal a mechanism through which the right combination of bacteria can lead to microbiome resiliency to dietary perturbations and changes in brain function.

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Image: Gil Costa.