A. tropicalis effectively “lowers” the sugar for the flies
A. tropicalis effectively “lowers” the sugar for the flies, while axenic or Lb-associated flies actually experience the full sugar content. At-flies (with Acetobacter tropicalis ): The bacteria consume a lot of glucose in the food. Even if the food starts at 10% sugar, the effective glucose available to the flies drops to ~2.5%. Result: TAG (fat) and body glucose are similar to flies on 2.5% sugar. Ax-flies (germ-free) or Lb-flies (with Lactobacillus brevis ): No significant glucose consumption by bacteria. Flies on 10% sugar food have higher internal glucose and TAG compared to 2.5% sugar. Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4614424/