Microorganisms can increase their host’s ability to adapt to the environment and reproduce—evolutionary biologists are now studying the underlying molecular mechanisms. A research team headed by Dr. Fabian Staubach and Yun Wang from the Institute of Biology I at the University of Freiburg has now studied the relationship of Gluconobacter bacteria and Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies. They have found that specific Gluconobacter variants supply the flies with vitamin B1 improving fly fitness. The research involved comparison of different but closely-related strains of Gluconobacter bacteria and the effect they have on fruit flies. Bacteria carrying genes forvitamin B1 production increased fly offspring number. In addition, the researchers discovered that bacteria can pass on the necessary vitamin-producing genes horizontally—that is, not just to their offspring but also to other living bacteria. The microbial genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted together with researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology and the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, U.S.. The results have been published in the journal BMC Biology.
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Source: Phys.org