Gut Bacterial Load Associates with Dramatic Declines in Anoxia Tolerance in Young Drosophila melanogaster Adults

Anoxia tolerance is strongly correlated with tolerance to heat, desiccation, hyperosmotic shock, freezing, and other general stressors, suggesting that anoxia tolerance is broadly related to stress tolerance. Age affects the capacity of many animals to survive anoxia, but the basis to this ontogenic variation is poorly understood. We exposed adult Drosophila, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 days past eclosion, to six hours of anoxia and assessed survival 24-hours post-treatment.