Back to Search
Start Over
The fly factor phenomenon is mediated by interkingdom signaling between bacterial symbionts and their blow fly hosts
The fly factor phenomenon is mediated by interkingdom signaling between bacterial symbionts and their blow fly hosts
- Source :
- Insect Science. 27:256-265
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2018.
-
Abstract
- We tested the recent hypothesis that the "fly factor" phenomenon (food currently or previously fed on by flies attracts more flies than the same type of food kept inaccessible to flies) is mediated by bacterial symbionts deposited with feces or regurgitated by feeding flies. We allowed laboratory-reared black blow flies, Phormia regina (Meigen), to feed and defecate on bacterial Luria-Bertani medium solidified with agar, and isolated seven morphologically distinct bacterial colonies. We identified these using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. In two-choice laboratory experiments, traps baited with cultures of Proteus mirabilis Hauser, Morganella morganii subsp. sibonii Jensen, or Serratia marcescens Bizio, captured significantly more flies than corresponding control jars baited with tryptic soy agar only. A mixture of seven bacterial strains as a trap bait was more attractive to flies than a single bacterial isolate (M. m. sibonii). In a field experiment, traps baited with agar cultures of P. mirabilis and M. m. sibonii in combination captured significantly more flies than traps baited with either bacterial isolate alone or the agar control. As evident by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, the odor profiles of bacterial isolates differ, which may explain the additive effect of bacteria to the attractiveness of bacterial trap baits. As "generalist bacteria," P. mirabilis and M. m. sibonii growing on animal protein (beef liver) or plant protein (tofu) are similarly effective in attracting flies. Bacteria-derived airborne semiochemicals appear to mediate foraging by flies and to inform their feeding and oviposition decisions.
- Subjects :
- Male
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
food.ingredient
Zoology
01 natural sciences
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
03 medical and health sciences
food
Animals
Agar
Symbiosis
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Feces
Appetitive Behavior
biology
Diptera
fungi
Feeding Behavior
Phormia regina
biology.organism_classification
Proteus mirabilis
010602 entomology
030104 developmental biology
Plant protein
Insect Science
Odorants
Serratia marcescens
Female
Morganella morganii
Agronomy and Crop Science
Bacteria
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17447917 and 16729609
- Volume :
- 27
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Insect Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....bd82986ee906126efd5c12dec69a757a
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.12632