The bacterial metabolite 2-aminoacetophenone promotes association of pathogenic bacteria with flies

Bacteria contaminate insects and secrete metabolites that may affect insect behaviour and potentially fitness through unknown mechanisms. Here we show that the ‘grape-like’ odorant 2-aminoacetophenone (2AA), secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (a ubiquitous opportunistic human pathogen), facilitates attraction to food for several fly species including Musca domestica, Ceratitis capitata and Drosophila melanogaster. Constant feeding on 2AA increases the level of long-term colonization of the flies’ intestine by P. aeruginosa . Odour perception is necessary for enhanced attraction to food containing 2AA, and expression in the Drosophila olfactory organs of odorant receptors Or49b and Or10a potentiates, while expression of Or85a inhibits, preference for 2AA. Our study shows that 2AA lures the flies to the bacterial source and increases the extent of colonization of the fly intestine by the bacteria that produce it, as a means to facilitate bacterial dissemination to new locations. Certain bacterial metabolites can affect insect behaviour, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors show that 2-aminoacetophenone, produced by the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa , attracts flies and facilitates microbial dissemination and colonization of the fly gut.