The first hours of life are critical for the survival and thriving of animals. Two key steps occur during this time: the excretion of metabolic waste – known as meconium – and the beginning of independent feeding. Until recently, it was unclear how these two processes are connected and how the gut might influence eating and sleeping behavior. Understanding these links is of broad interest and also intensively investigated in humans because gut-brain communication is increasingly implicated in human health and disease.
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster faces the same challenge after hatching. Prof. Anissa Kempf’s team at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, found that timing matters. They discovered that young flies only start feeding after partial meconium elimination. However, flies suffering from intestinal obstruction avoid food, sleep unusually long, and die prematurely. These findings suggest that gut function directly affects eating and sleeping behavior.
Genetic defect causes intestinal blockage
The gut problem can be traced back to a gene that plays an important role in fruit fly development. As early as 1914, scientists discovered that flies with a defect in the apterous gene fail to develop wings. They also noticed back then that these flies die young.
“We have now identified the cause of early death and resolved a question that has puzzled researchers for more than a century,” says Kempf. “The gene defect not only affects wing development but also proper hindgut development, leading to intestinal blockage.”
