INTERAÇÕES ENTRE DROSOPHILA E LEVEDURAS EM AMBIENTES TROPICAIS

Abstract

Yeasts and Drosophila form a mutualistic association, which the microorganisms arc nutritional source for adults and larvae of these flies, having an important role in the detoxification of substrates utilized for feeding and breeding: and the flies disperse the yeasts among the different microhabitats. In most cases, larvae and adults of Drosophila show selective foraging with preference for one or more yeast species. Most of the studies have shown that the groups or species of Drosophila have unique yeast communities associated with them, and changes in the physiological profiles these microbial communities show a parallel with the evolutionary history of several inde­pendent radiations of these insects. By means of thc yeast communities associated with the Drosophila, we can make inferences about the type of substrate utilized by the flics in the different habitats.