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Generation of Monoclonal Cultures from Wolbachia-infected Drosophila melanogaster JW18 Cell Line
Published on: June 27, 2025
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Wolbachia affects sleep behavior in Drosophila melanogaster
Jie Bi1, Amita Sehgal2, Julie A Williams2
1School of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, PR China; Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Journal of Insect Physiology
|March 3, 2018
Summary
Wolbachia bacteria increase sleep in fruit flies by altering dopamine pathways. This endosymbiont infection reduces sleep quality and arousal thresholds in Drosophila melanogaster.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Neurobiology
- Behavioral Ecology
Background:
- Wolbachia are intracellular bacteria that infect many insect species.
- While Wolbachia's impact on host reproduction is known, its effects on insect sleep are understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of Wolbachia infection on the sleep behavior of Drosophila melanogaster.
- To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying Wolbachia's effects on host behavior.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of sleep patterns in Wolbachia-infected and uninfected Drosophila melanogaster.
- Measurement of arousal thresholds in infected and control flies.
- Transcriptional analysis of dopamine biosynthesis genes.
Main Results:
- Wolbachia infection significantly increased total sleep time in both male and female flies.
- Sleep increases were due to more nighttime sleep bouts, not longer durations.
- Infected flies exhibited reduced arousal thresholds and upregulated dopamine-related genes (Pale, Ddc).
- Circadian rhythms and sleep rebound were unaffected by Wolbachia.
Conclusions:
- Wolbachia infection alters Drosophila sleep behavior, increasing total sleep but decreasing sleep quality.
- The bacteria appear to modulate host behavior via dopamine pathway gene expression.
- Findings enhance understanding of host-endosymbiont interactions and their ecological implications.
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