Drosophila melanogaster as an alternative model organism in nutrigenomics

Abstract

Nutrigenomics explains the interaction between the genome, the proteome, the epigenome, the metabolome, and the microbiome with the nutritional environment of an organism. It is therefore situated at the interface between an organism's health, its diet, and the genome. The diet and/or specific dietary compounds are able to affect not only the gene expression patterns, but also the epigenetic mechanisms as well as the production of metabolites and the bacterial composition of the microbiota. Drosophila melanogaster provides a well-suited model organism to unravel these interactions in the context of nutrigenomics as it combines several advantages including an affordable maintenance, a short generation time, a high fecundity, a relatively short life expectancy, a well-characterized genome, and the availability of several mutant fly lines. Furthermore, it hosts a mammalian-like intestinal system with a clear microbiota and a fat body resembling the adipose tissue with liver-equivalent oenocytes, supporting the fly as an excellent model organism not only in nutrigenomics but also in nutritional research. Experimental approaches that are essentially needed in nutrigenomic research, including several sequencing technologies, have already been established in the fruit fly. However, studies investigating the interaction of a specific diet and/or dietary compounds in the fly are currently very limited. The present review provides an overview of the fly's morphology including the intestinal microbiome and antimicrobial peptides as modulators of the immune system. Additionally, it summarizes nutrigenomic approaches in the fruit fly helping to elucidate host-genome interactions with the nutritional environment in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster.

Purification and Functional Characterization of the Chloroform/Methanol-Soluble Protein 3 (CM3) From Triticum aestivum in Drosophila melanogaster

“…In the present study, we utilized Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism to study the in vivo effects of CM3, given that it shares plenty of similarities with humans in terms of their digestive systems ( 34 , 35 ). Drosophila amylases have been well-characterized at both genetic and molecular levels ( 36 – 38 ).…”

EGCG ameliorates neuronal and behavioral defects by remodeling gut microbiota and TotM expression in Drosophila models of Parkinson’s disease

“…One consideration Drosophila merits is the limited number of commensal intestinal bacteria, 7 which favors the dissection of individual strain contributions. Given it, four strains constituting major symbiotic gut bacteria in flies were isolated through selective growth and identified with 16S rRNA sequencing ( Figure 3A).…”

Nörodejeneratif Hastalık Araştırmalarında Drosophila melanogaster Modeli

“…Bu benzerlik korunmuş bölgelerde %80-%90'a kadar çıkmaktadır. Bu nedenlerle, D.melanogaster insanda görülen hastalıkların modellenmesine ve araştırılmasına uygun bir model olarak kabul edilmektedir 4,11,12 . çinko iyonlarına bağlanması engellenen insan mutant SOD1 proteini Drosophila'da ifade ettirilmiş ve mutant SOD1 ile mitokondri işlev bozukluğu arasındaki ilişkiyi destekleyen kanıtlar elde edilmiştir.…”