This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental material Other Versions of this Article: IAI.01496-06v1 75/4/1565    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Cox, C. R. Articles by Gilmore, M. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cox, C. R. Articles by Gilmore, M. S.

Native Microbial Colonization of Drosophila melanogaster and Its Use as a Model of Enterococcus faecalis Pathogenesis ^,

Schepens Eye Research Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts,¹ Oklahoma Center for Neurosciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma²

Received 18 September 2006/ Returned for modification 22 November 2006/ Accepted 31 December 2006

Enterococci are commensal organisms of the gastrointestinal (GI) tracts of a broad range of mammalian and insect hosts, but they are also leading causes of nosocomial infection. Little is known about the ecological role of enterococci in the GI tract consortia. To develop a tractable model for studying the roles of these organisms as commensals and pathogens, we characterized the Drosophila melanogaster microflora and examined the occurrence of enterococci in the gastrointestinal consortium of Drosophila. In a survey of laboratory-reared Drosophila and wild-captured flies, we found that Drosophila was naturally colonized by representatives of five bacterial phyla. Among these organisms were several species of enterococci, including Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus gallinaraum, and Enterococcus durans, as well as a previously detected but uncultured Enterococcus species. Drosophila could be cured of enterococcal carriage by antibiotic treatment and could be reassociated with laboratory strains. High-level colonization by a well-characterized strain expressing the enterococcal cytolysin was found to be detrimental to Drosophila compared to the effect of an isogenic, noncytolytic control. The anatomical distribution of enterococci in the Drosophila GI tract was determined by immunohistochemical staining of thin sections of naturally colonized and reassociated flies.

Published ahead of print on 12 January 2007.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://iai.asm.org/.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Corby-Harris, V., Pontaroli, A. C., Shimkets, L. J., Bennetzen, J. L., Habel, K. E., Promislow, D. E. L. (2007). Geographical Distribution and Diversity of Bacteria Associated with Natural Populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 3470-3479 [Abstract] [Full Text]