Life-History Trade-Offs in Drosophila: Flies Select a Diet to Maximize Reproduction at the Expense of Lifespan.

ABSTRACT: Macronutrient intake impacts physiology, behavior, and gene expression in a wide range of organisms. We used the response surface methodology to compare how life history traits, lifespan, and reproduction differ as a function of protein and carbohydrate intakes under choice and no-choice feeding regimens in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We found that when offered a choice of nutritionally complementary foods mated female flies regulated toward a protein to carbohydrate ratio (P:C) that was associated with shortened lifespan and maximal egg production when compared to response surfaces derived from flies fed 1 of a range of fixed diets differing in P:C (no-choice regimen). This difference in lifespan between choice and no-choice feeding was not seen in males or virgin flies, refle

SUBMITTER: Strilbytska O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11491752 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature