TY - JOUR
T1 - Linking developmental diet to adult foraging choice in Drosophila melanogaster
AU - Davies, Lucy Rebecca
AU - Schou, Mads Fristrup
AU - Kristensen, Torsten Nygaard
AU - Loeschcke, Volker
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Rather than maximizing intake of available macronutrients, insects increase intake of some nutrients and restrict intake of others. This selective consumption influences, and potentially optimizes, developmental time, reproduction and lifespan of the organism. Studies so far have focused on discriminating between protein and carbohydrate uptake and the consequences on fitness components at different life stages. However, it is largely unknown whether and how the developmental diets, which may entail habitat-specific nutrient restrictions, affect selective consumption in adults. We show that adult female D. melanogaster opt for the same protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratio regardless of their developmental diet (P:C ratio of 1:1, 1:4 or 1:8). In contrast, males choose a diet that makes up for deficiencies; when protein is low during development, males increase protein consumption despite this being detrimental to starvation resistance. The sexual dimorphism in foraging choice could be due to the different energetic requirements of males and females. To investigate the effect of developmental diet on lifespan once an adult nutritional environment has been established, we also conducted a no-choice experiment. Here, adult lifespan increased as P:C ratio decreased, irrespective of developmental diet, thus demonstrating a cancelling out effect of the nutritional environment experienced during early life stages. Our study provides novel insights into how developmental diet is linked to adult diet by presenting evidence for sexual dimorphism in foraging choice as well as life-stage dependency of diet on lifespan.
AB - Rather than maximizing intake of available macronutrients, insects increase intake of some nutrients and restrict intake of others. This selective consumption influences, and potentially optimizes, developmental time, reproduction and lifespan of the organism. Studies so far have focused on discriminating between protein and carbohydrate uptake and the consequences on fitness components at different life stages. However, it is largely unknown whether and how the developmental diets, which may entail habitat-specific nutrient restrictions, affect selective consumption in adults. We show that adult female D. melanogaster opt for the same protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratio regardless of their developmental diet (P:C ratio of 1:1, 1:4 or 1:8). In contrast, males choose a diet that makes up for deficiencies; when protein is low during development, males increase protein consumption despite this being detrimental to starvation resistance. The sexual dimorphism in foraging choice could be due to the different energetic requirements of males and females. To investigate the effect of developmental diet on lifespan once an adult nutritional environment has been established, we also conducted a no-choice experiment. Here, adult lifespan increased as P:C ratio decreased, irrespective of developmental diet, thus demonstrating a cancelling out effect of the nutritional environment experienced during early life stages. Our study provides novel insights into how developmental diet is linked to adult diet by presenting evidence for sexual dimorphism in foraging choice as well as life-stage dependency of diet on lifespan.
KW - Developmental diet
KW - Fitness
KW - Lifespan
KW - Nutritional choice
KW - Protein to carbohydrate ratio
KW - Sexual dimorphism
KW - Starvation resistance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047651486&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1242/jeb.175554
DO - 10.1242/jeb.175554
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0022-0949
VL - 221
JO - Journal of Experimental Biology
JF - Journal of Experimental Biology
IS - 9
M1 - jeb175554
ER -