High sugar induced changes in gut microflora in Drosophila melanogaster: Protective role of Gymnema sylvestre

Abstract

Phenotype of an organism is due to the cumulative effect of various factors such as genetic system, immediate environment and also the parental environment. The microbial communities found in an organism are known to influence on the host nutrition and energy balance which is also an important factor in shaping up the phenotype of an organism (Hooper et al., 2002). These gut microbes are involved in acquisition and allocation of nutrients in animal system through multiple ways a] they can consume ingested nutrients or provide supplementary nutrients to the host b] they can modify feeding and nutrients to the host c] they can change nutrient allocation patterns of the host by changing the nutrient sensing and signaling pathways in an organism (Backhed et al., 2004; Carcilli and sad, 2013; Goodman et al., 2009; Vijayakumar et al., 2010).