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Investigation of the Behavioral Impact of Lactobacillus Supplementation in Low Intellectual Disability Models of Autism in Drosophila

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Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster provides a powerful model for dissecting genetic and circuit-level mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, most Drosophila ASD models rely on mutations orthologous to syndromic ASD in humans that co-occur with Intellectual Disability (ID), complicating behavioral assays and overlooking the nearly 50% of autistic individuals without ID. Emerging evidence across species implicates the gut-brain axis in ASD, implicating microbial elements in neural development and behavior. While well-studied in mammalian models, the role of the gut-brain axis in Drosophila remains largely underexplored. This project develops a Drosophila model to examine gut-brain interactions in ASD-associated behaviors without ID-like confounds. Candidate mutant fly lines in ASD-linked gene orthologs minimally associated with ID are screened with assays approximating core autistic traits before undergoing a Lactobacillus plantarum supplementation. Data revealed differences in behavior post-supplementation for atypical sensitivity testing, with sex playing a role, but no differences in repetitive behavior.

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2026-05-01
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gut-brain axis, Drosophila melanogaster, ASD
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Williams, Charleese. 2026. "Investigation of the Behavioral Impact of Lactobacillus Supplementation in Low Intellectual Disability Models of Autism in Drosophila." Thesis, Georgia State University. http://doi.org/10.57709/193
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