Meta-analysis of diets used in Drosophila microbiome research and introduction of the Drosophila Dietary Composition Calculator (DDCC)

Abstract

AbstractWhile the term standard diet is commonly used in studies using Drosophila melanogaster, more often than not these diets are anything but standard, making it difficult to contextualize results in the broader scope of the field. This is especially evident in microbiome studies, despite diet having a pivotal role in microbiome composition and resulting host-microbe interactions. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of diets used in fly microbiome research and provide a web-based tool for researchers to determine the nutritional content of diets of interest. Our goal is for these community resources to aid in contextualizing both past and future microbiome studies (with utility to other fields as well) to better understand how individual lab diets can contribute to observed phenotypes.