Current Search: UWF Theses and Dissertations (x) » Duty, Khursana Khusandjanovna (x)
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Title
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Investigating the impact of genetic factors on gut microbiota composition in drosophila melanogaster.
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Author
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Duty, Khursana Khusandjanovna
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Abstract/Description
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Gut microbiota is the community of microbes residing in the intestinal tract. The balance of this diverse microbial community ties to a number of health benefits. In the last decade, studies have shown its influences in neurological outcomes, such as mood, behavior, and certain neurological disorders (Sampson & Mazmanian, 2015). It is unclear whether microbial composition is acquired through various exposures throughout life or somehow controlled by the host's genetic makeup. This research...
Show moreGut microbiota is the community of microbes residing in the intestinal tract. The balance of this diverse microbial community ties to a number of health benefits. In the last decade, studies have shown its influences in neurological outcomes, such as mood, behavior, and certain neurological disorders (Sampson & Mazmanian, 2015). It is unclear whether microbial composition is acquired through various exposures throughout life or somehow controlled by the host's genetic makeup. This research examines whether the host's genotype plays a role in shaping the microbial community using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. This is a simple model that shares similar cellular function and tissue organization with the human. Many genes associated with the disease in humans are also found in Drosophila, such as pink1 (mutation associated with Parkinson's disease in humans) and psn (mutation associated with Alzheimer's disease in humans) genes. The objective of this research is (1) to examine whether the wild type gut microbiota differs from that of the pink1 and psn flies; (2) determine whether restoring partial psn activity in psn flies restores microbiota composition to that of the wild type flies. Results show no clear evidence that genotype has effects on the composition and/or diversity of the fly gut microbiota. Additionally, one cannot restore the microbiota in the mutant fly by simply providing the lost gene functions, at least in the example of the psn gene.
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Identifier
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1129014543, WFE0000653
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Format
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Document (PDF)