Meta-analysis of Diets Used in Microbiome Research and Introduction of the Dietary Composition Calculator (DDCC)

Nutrition is a major factor influencing many aspects of physiology. However, a wide range of diets, many of which are termed "standard" in the literature, are utilized for research, leading to inconsistencies in reporting of nutrition-dependent phenotypes across the field. This is especially evident in microbiome studies, as diet has a pivotal role in microbiome composition and resulting host-microbe interactions. Here, we performed a meta-analysis of diets used in fly microbiome research and provide a web-based tool for researchers to determine the nutritional content of diets of interest. While our meta-analysis primarily focuses on microbiome studies, our goal in developing these resources is to aid the broader community in contextualizing past and future studies across the scope of research to better understand how individual lab diets can contribute to observed phenotypes.