title: You are what you eat.
abstract: Gut bacteria is now considered as an additional host organ, and it has been shown that they have important influences on host developmental and physiological processes. More recently gut bacteria have additionally been implicated in behavioral processes. We showed that in two species of Drosophila, gut bacteria variation affects behavior, altering partner investment in copulation in relation to whether individuals were familiar (i.e., having developed in the same environment), or were related. This suggests that gut bacteria play a role in kin recognition in these species. We suggest that this phenomenon is associated with gut bacteria influencing the scent profiles used by Drosophila in mate choice.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrative Biology; School of Life Sciences; University of Liverpool; Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Zenobia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrative Biology; School of Life Sciences; University of Liverpool; Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Chloe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Heys
authors.affiliation: Institute of Integrative Biology; School of Life Sciences; University of Liverpool; Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prescott
authors.affiliation: UMR 6553 ECOBIO; University of Rennes 1, 35042; Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lizé
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal
keywords: Drosophila; behaviour; cuticular hydrocarbons; gut bacteria; gut microbiota; kin recognition