Young flies’ microbes did not predict lifespan or aging traits
An experiment in 88 genetic lines of male fruit flies found that diet and genetic background shaped the microbes they carried.
Our read
Interventions- Studied:
- Non-randomized trial in male fruit flies
- What changed:
- Young flies’ microbial features did not predict lifespan, movement, dry body weight, or heat tolerance
- The catch:
- Pooled microbial samples prevented linking individual flies’ microbes to their own aging outcomes
- Why it’s aging research:
- It measures how long life or healthy life lasts.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an experiment with male fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) from 88 inbred genetic lines, researchers tested how diet and genetic background shaped the microbiome—the microbes the flies carried. Starting at about two days old, adults received either a rich control diet or a restricted diet with 25% of its nutritional content. Researchers analyzed 476 pooled samples, each containing ten six-day-old males.
Flies on the rich diet carried more kinds of microbes, but in less even proportions. Microbial makeup also varied by genetic background, with some genetic effects depending on diet. However, researchers found no statistically significant links between young flies’ microbial features and lifespan, movement, dry body weight or the time until flies stopped moving under heat stress.
Why it matters
The work addressed whether an animal’s microbes early in adulthood could help forecast its lifespan and changes in physical function with age.
Caveats
The prediction analysis relied on correlations with pooled samples collected at one young age; it did not test whether changing microbes altered aging. The experiment studied only male flies, not females or people.
- Nutritionally poor restricted diet
- Nutritionally rich control diet
- Microbiome composition
- Microbiome features
- Ordination scores
- Flies
The paper
Aalborg University; Aarhus University
Biogerontology, May 4, 2026, Open access
Comments
Be the first to comment.