TY - JOUR TI - Metabolite exchange between microbiome members produces compounds that influence Drosophila behavior AU - Fischer, Caleb N AU - Trautman, Eric P AU - Crawford, Jason M AU - Stabb, Eric V AU - Handelsman, Jo AU - Broderick, Nichole A A2 - Scott, Kristin VL - 6 PY - 2017 DA - 2017/01/09 SP - e18855 C1 - eLife 2017;6:e18855 DO - 10.7554/eLife.18855 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18855 AB - Animals host multi-species microbial communities (microbiomes) whose properties may result from inter-species interactions; however, current understanding of host-microbiome interactions derives mostly from studies in which elucidation of microbe-microbe interactions is difficult. In exploring how Drosophila melanogaster acquires its microbiome, we found that a microbial community influences Drosophila olfactory and egg-laying behaviors differently than individual members. Drosophila prefers a Saccharomyces-Acetobacter co-culture to the same microorganisms grown individually and then mixed, a response mainly due to the conserved olfactory receptor, Or42b. Acetobacter metabolism of Saccharomyces-derived ethanol was necessary, and acetate and its metabolic derivatives were sufficient, for co-culture preference. Preference correlated with three emergent co-culture properties: ethanol catabolism, a distinct volatile profile, and yeast population decline. Egg-laying preference provided a context-dependent fitness benefit to larvae. We describe a molecular mechanism by which a microbial community affects animal behavior. Our results support a model whereby emergent metabolites signal a beneficial multispecies microbiome. KW - microbiota KW - host-microbe interactions KW - olfaction KW - metabolism KW - microbe-microbe interactions JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -