INSIDE THE FLY'S GUT

The gastrointestinal organs are vital for life at all scales of organization of multicellular organisms. In addition to its obvious importance in transporting food and water, the intestine, in cooperation with other internal organs, has to deal with microbes to permit a subset to be resident in the lumen, and reject pathogenic microbes. Derangements in immune function, infection, anomalies in development, repair, regeneration and malignant transformation in the gut are among the most prevalent of diseases. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research introduced microperfusion of the gut of the fruit fly Drosophila in 2005 as a model organ for the study of these conditions1, 2. 

This lecture will describe recent advances in the physiology of the fly's gut, with an experimental demonstration of the institute's capabilities that has placed the Tata Institute in the forefront of this new and rapidly expanding field3-11. Voltage-dependent proton transport, electrolyte transport and the development of new reagents to study intestinal function will be shown. A completely unexpected outcome of these studies has been the detection of physiological signatures of innate immunity in insect epithelia. 

REFERENCES: 
1. Shanbhag and Tripathi, (2005). J. Mem. Biol 206. 61-72. 
2. Shanbhag and Tripathi, (2009). J. Exp. Biol. 212. 1731-1744. 
3. Ohlstein and Spradling, (2006). Nature 439. 470-474. 
4. Micchelli and Perrimon (2006). Nature 439, 475-479.
5. Lin et al. (2008). Nature 455. 1119-1122. 
6. Buchon et al. (2009). Cell Host & Microbe 5. 200-211. 
7. Shanbhag and Tripathi, (2009). Proc. Physiol. Soc. 16: C16.
8. Shanbhag and Tripathi, (2010). Acta Physiologica, 198: Suppl, 677. 
9. Shanbhag, et al. (2011). Soc. Exp. Biol. A: 1.13. 
10. Shanbhag, et al. (2011). Physiol. Soc., C14 and PC14. 
11. Maynard JC et al (2010). Dev Biol 339,295-306. 




 About Dr. Shubha Shanbhag : 

Dr. Shanbhag graduated in Microbiology before joining the Tata Institute. Her earlier work characterized the taste and olfactory sensory organs and their projections to the brain of the fruit fly. She is a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship.