Electrolyte transport pathways induced in the midgut epithelium of Drosophila melanogaster larvae by commensal gut microbiota and pathogens

Abstract

Microbiota colonizing exposed epithelial surfaces are vital for sustenance of metazoan life, but communication between microbiota, epithelial cells and the host immune system is only beginning to be understood. We address this issue in the posterior midgut epithelium of Drosophila larvae where nutrient transport and immune functions are exclusively transcellular. We showed that larvae emerging into a sterile post-embryonic environment have symmetrical apical and basal membranes. In contrast, larvae emerging into non-sterile media, the source of microbiota, have markedly asymmetric membranes, with apical membrane conductance more than five-fold higher than the basal membranes. As an example of pathogen action, we showed that the entomopathogenic fungal toxin Destruxin A (Dx) depleted intracellular ions. Reversibility of action of Dx was verified by bilayer reconstitution in forming transient non-specific channels that conduct ions but not water. Dx was also less effective from the apical side as compared to the basal side of the epithelium. We also showed that intercellular septa are not conductive in non-sterile cells, even though most cells are isopotential. Luminal microbiota therefore impart asymmetry to the epithelium, by activation of apical membrane conductance, enhancing inter-enterocyte communication, separated by insulating septa, via the gut lumen. These results also open the possibility of studying the basis of bidirectional molecular conversation specifically between enterocytes and microbiota that enables discrimination between commensals and pathogens, establishment of the former, and elimination of the latter.

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