Drosophila is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit. They should not be confused with the Tephritidae, a related family, which are also called fruit flies ; tephritids feed primarily on unripe or ripe fruit, with many species being regarded as destructive agricultural pests, especially the Mediterranean fruit fly.
Drosophila melanogaster is a species of fly in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Charles W. Woodworth's 1901 proposal of the use of this species as a model organism, D. melanogaster continues to be widely used for biological research in genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution. As of 2017, five Nobel Prizes have been awarded to drosophilists for their work using the insect.
Acetobacter is a genus of acetic acid bacteria. Acetic acid bacteria are characterized by the ability to convert ethanol to acetic acid in the presence of oxygen. Of these, the genus Acetobacter is distinguished by the ability to oxidize lactate and acetate into carbon dioxide and water. Bacteria of the genus Acetobacter have been isolated from industrial vinegar fermentation processes and are frequently used as fermentation starter cultures.
Wolbachia is a genus of intracellular bacteria that infects mainly arthropod species, including a high proportion of insects, and also some nematodes. It is one of the most common parasitic microbes, and is possibly the most common reproductive parasite in the biosphere. Its interactions with its hosts are often complex, and in some cases have evolved to be mutualistic rather than parasitic. Some host species cannot reproduce, or even survive, without Wolbachia colonisation. One study concluded that more than 16% of neotropical insect species carry bacteria of this genus, and as many as 25 to 70% of all insect species are estimated to be potential hosts.
Providencia is genus of Gram-negative, motile bacteria of the family Morganellaceae. It was named after Providence, Rhode Island, where C. A. Stuart and colleagues studied these bacteria at Brown University.
Drosophila X virus (DXV) belongs to the Birnaviridae family of viruses. Birnaviridae currently consists of three genera. The first genus is Entomobirnavirus, which contains DXV. The next genus is Aquabirnavirus, containing infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV). The last genus is Avibirnavirus, which contains infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). All of these genera contain homology in three specific areas of their transcripts. The homology comes from the amino and carboxyl regions of preVP2, a small 21-residue-long domain near the carboxyl terminal of VP3, and similar small ORFs sequences.
Most animal testing involves invertebrates, especially Drosophila melanogaster, a fruit fly, and Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode. These animals offer scientists many advantages over vertebrates, including their short life cycle, simple anatomy and the ease with which large numbers of individuals may be studied. Invertebrates are often cost-effective, as thousands of flies or nematodes can be housed in a single room.
Staphylococcus succinus is a Gram-positive coccoid bacterium belonging to the genus Staphylococcus.
Providencia rettgeri, is a Gram negative bacterium that is commonly found in both water and land environments. P. rettgeri is in the genus Providencia, along with Providencia stuartii, Providencia alcalifaciens, and Providencia rustigianii. P. rettgeri can be incubated at 37 °C in nutrient agar or nutrient broth. It was first discovered in 1904 after a waterfowl epidemic. Strains of the species have also been isolated from nematodes of the genus Heterorhabditis. Providencia rettgeri also found in marine environment.
Amita Sehgal is a molecular biologist and chronobiologist in the Department of Neuroscience at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Sehgal was involved in the discovery of Drosophila TIM and many other important components of the Drosophila clock mechanism. Sehgal also played a pivotal role in the development of Drosophila as a model for the study of sleep. Her research continues to be focused on understanding the genetic basis of sleep and also how circadian systems relate to other aspects of physiology.
The microbiota are the sum of all symbiotic microorganisms living on or in an organism. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism and known as one of the most investigated organisms worldwide. The microbiota in flies is less complex than that found in humans. It still has an influence on the fitness of the fly, and it affects different life-history characteristics such as lifespan, resistance against pathogens (immunity) and metabolic processes (digestion). Considering the comprehensive toolkit available for research in Drosophila, analysis of its microbiome could enhance our understanding of similar processes in other types of host-microbiota interactions, including those involving humans. Microbiota plays key roles in the intestinal immune and metabolic responses via their fermentation product, acetate.
Anaerococcus is a genus of bacteria. Its type species is Anaerococcus prevotii. These bacteria are Gram-positive and strictly anaerobic. The genus Anaerococcus was proposed in 2001. Its genome was sequenced in August 2009. The genus Anaerococcus is one of six genera classified within the group GPAC. These six genera are found in the human body as part of the commensal human microbiota.
Spiroplasma poulsonii are bacteria of the genus Spiroplasma that are commonly endosymbionts of flies. These bacteria live in the hemolymph of the flies, where they can act as reproductive manipulators or defensive symbionts.
Diptericin is a 9 kDa antimicrobial peptide (AMP) of flies first isolated from the blowfly Phormia terranova. It is primarily active against Gram-negative bacteria, disrupting bacterial membrane integrity. The structure of this protein includes a proline-rich domain with similarities to the AMPs drosocin, pyrrhocoricin, and abaecin, and a glycine-rich domain with similarity to attacin. Diptericin is an iconic readout of immune system activity in flies, used ubiquitously in studies of Drosophila immunity. Diptericin is named after the insect order Diptera.
Drosocin is a 19-residue long antimicrobial peptide (AMP) of flies first isolated in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, and later shown to be conserved throughout the genus Drosophila. Drosocin is regulated by the NF-κB Imd signalling pathway in the fly.
The Drosophila quinaria species group is a speciose lineage of mushroom-feeding flies studied for their specialist ecology, their parasites, population genetics, and the evolution of immune systems. Quinaria species are part of the Drosophila subgenus.
Drosophila innubila is a species of vinegar fly restricted to high-elevation woodlands in the mountains of the southern USA and Mexico, which it likely colonized during the last glacial period. Drosophila innubila is a kind of mushroom-breeding Drosophila, and member of the Drosophila quinaria species group. Drosophila innubila is best known for its association with a strain of male-killing Wolbachia bacteria. These bacteria are parasitic, as they drain resources from the host and cause half the infected female's eggs to abort. However Wolbachia may offer benefits to the fly's fitness in certain circumstances. The D. innubila genome was sequenced in 2019.
The Imd pathway is a broadly-conserved NF-κB immune signalling pathway of insects and some arthropods that regulates a potent antibacterial defence response. The pathway is named after the discovery of a mutation causing severe immune deficiency. The Imd pathway was first discovered in 1995 using Drosophila fruit flies by Bruno Lemaitre and colleagues, who also later discovered that the Drosophila Toll gene regulated defence against Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. Together the Toll and Imd pathways have formed a paradigm of insect immune signalling; as of September 2, 2019, these two landmark discovery papers have been cited collectively over 5000 times since publication on Google Scholar.
The Morganellaceae are a family of Gram-negative bacteria that include some important human pathogens formerly classified as Enterobacteriaceae. This family is a member of the order Enterobacterales in the class Gammaproteobacteria of the phylum Pseudomonadota. Genera in this family include the type genus Morganella, along with Arsenophonus, Cosenzaea, Moellerella, Photorhabdus, Proteus, Providencia and Xenorhabdus.
Commensalibacter is a genus of Gram-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped bacteria from the family of Acetobacteraceae which was originally isolated from Drosophila melanogaster. The complete genome of the type strain C. intestini A911T has been sequenced.
