Abstract
The gut microbiome is well known to impact host physiology and health. Given widespread control of physiology by circadian clocks, we asked how the microbiome interacts with circadian rhythms in the Drosophila gut. The microbiome did not cycle in flies fed ad libitum, and timed feeding (TF) drove limited cycling only in clockless per01 flies. However, TF and loss of the microbiome influenced the composition of the gut cycling transcriptome, independently and together. Moreover, both interventions increased the amplitude of rhythmic gene expression, with effects of TF at least partly due to changes in histone acetylation. Contrary to expectations, timed feeding rendered animals more sensitive to stress. Analysis of microbiome function in circadian physiology revealed that germ-free flies reset more rapidly with shifts in the light:dark cycle. We propose that the microbiome stabilizes cycling in the host gut to prevent rapid fluctuations with changing environmental conditions.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e2217532120 |
| Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| Volume | 120 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 31 2023 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General
Keywords
- circadian phase shifts
- circadian rhythms
- gut microbiome
- timed feeding
- transcriptome