Fruit flies swap yeast partners depending on the fruit they eat
Dunis S, Lapègue M, Deschamps C, Cesari L, Loiseau A
Invasive Species
If you grow cherries, strawberries, or blackberries, the pest flies damaging your fruit are quietly recruiting different microbial allies from each crop, which could explain why control methods that work on one fruit sometimes fail on another.
A tiny invasive fly called spotted wing drosophila infests cherries, blackberries, and strawberries, and researchers wanted to know if it carries its own fixed set of microbes or borrows them from whatever fruit it's eating. It turns out the fly keeps the same core bacteria everywhere, but its yeast companions switch depending on the fruit: one yeast group shows up in flies from cherries and strawberries, while a different one dominates in flies from blackberries. The fly seems to pick up these yeasts directly from the fruit itself, not from its parents or its own biology.
Key Findings
Drosophila suzukii maintains a consistent core bacterial microbiota (dominated by Gluconobacter cerinus) across all life stages and host fruits.
Yeast communities, unlike bacteria, are fruit-specific: Hanseniaspora dominates in flies from cherry and strawberry, while Metschnikowia dominates in flies from blackberry.
Laboratory-reared and wild-caught flies developed under matching conditions showed similar microbial communities, supporting horizontal acquisition of microbes from the fruit rather than inheritance.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that the invasive spotted wing fruit fly carries a stable set of bacteria no matter what fruit it eats, but the yeasts in its gut change depending on whether it grew up in a cherry, blackberry, or strawberry. This shows the fly picks up different fungal partners straight from the fruit it infests.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Core bacterial and host fruit-specific yeast microbiota in a polyphagous fly pest.
Holometabolous polyphagous insects undergo metamorphosis and exploit multiple host plants, exposing them to highly variable ecological conditions across both life stages and host plants. Whether th...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Nanoplastics interfere with plant-mycorrhizal communication and limit plant growth.
Microplastics breaking down in your garden soil are quietly strangling the beneficial fungi that help your vegetables absorb phosphorus and other nutrients, ...