no more than 3 sentences per question to these questions please: 1a) Where did the work start (necessary background, old data)? 1b) What new did they do? 1c) What did it show (or purport to show)?
Social environments influence multiple traits of individuals including immunity, stress and ageing, often in sex-specific ways. The composition of the microbiome (the as- semblage of symbiotic microorganisms within a host) is determined by environmental factors and the host's immune, endocrine and neural systems. The social environ- ment could alter host microbiomes extrinsically by affecting transmission between individuals, probably promoting homogeneity in the microbiome of social partners. Alternatively, intrinsic effects arising from interactions between the microbiome and host physiology (the microbiota-gut-brain axis) could translate social stress into dysbi- otic microbiomes, with consequences for host health. We investigated how manipu- lating social environments during larval and adult life-stages altered the microbiome composition of Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies. We used social contexts that par- ticularly alter the development and lifespan of males, predicting that any intrinsic social effects on the microbiome would therefore be sex-specific. The presence of adult males during the larval stage significantly altered the microbiome of pupae of both sexes. In adults, same-sex grouping increased bacterial diversity in both sexes. Importantly, the microbiome community structure of males was more sensitive to social contact at older ages, an effect partially mitigated by housing focal males with young rather than coaged groups. Functional analyses suggest that these microbiome changes impact ageing and immune responses. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the substantial effects of the social environment on individual health are medi- ated through intrinsic effects on the microbiome, and provides a model for under- standing the mechanistic basis of the microbiota-gut-brain axis.
no more than 3 sentences per question to these questions please:
1a) Where did the work start (necessary background, old data)?
1b) What new did they do?
1c) What did it show (or purport to show)?
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