After a long day, there is nothing more refreshing than hearing the pop and fizz of a freshly poured beer. As you pour the frothy liquid into a glass, you instantly smell the unique, pungent aroma.
According to new findings, beer lovers are not the only ones attracted to the smell. Scientists have found that because of the aroma found in yeast, fruit flies are also attracted to booze.
Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant kitchen or bar knows that pesky fruit flies sometimes come with the territory. However, researchers from the University of Leuven and the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology in Belgium have discovered that smell is linked to a mutually beneficial relationship between yeast and fruit flies.
It turns out that yeast and fruit flies are involved in a "smell-based collaboration."
Researcher Kevin Verstrepen of KU Leuven and VIB in Belgium discovered 15 years ago that similar to how aromas entice flies to ripening fruit, common brewer's yeast produces fruity aromas that lure flies to come feast. One gene called alcohol acetyltransferase (ATF1) was found to produce the most volatile chemicals.
Fruit flies feast on yeast because it is a source of protein. The flies then disperse the yeast cells into the environment.
In the study, published in Cell Reports, the researchers put flies in a cage and blew air collected from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also known as brewer's yeast.
"Two seemingly unrelated species, yeasts and flies, have developed an intricate symbiosis based on smell," Verstrepen says. "The flies can feed on the yeasts, and the yeasts benefit from the movement of the flies."
The flies preferred the brewer's yeast air to the non-fruity yeast air blown in the cage. Not only were they attracted to the sweet smell of the yeast, but they also instinctively picked up the microbes and transported it around the cage. This suggests that yeast without the aroma missed out on the chance to be dispersed.
The research suggests that microbes and insects play intertwining roles, each feeding off their distinct traits, including smell.
