The leucokinin pathway and its neurons regulate meal size in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Total food intake is a function of meal size and meal frequency, and adjustments to these parameters allow animals to maintain a stable energy balance in changing environmental conditions. The physiological mechanisms that regulate meal size have been studied in blowflies but have not been previously examined in Drosophila.

Results

Here we show that mutations in the leucokinin neuropeptide (leuc) and leucokinin receptor (lkr) genes cause phenotypes in which Drosophila adults have an increase in meal size and a compensatory reduction in meal frequency. Because mutant flies take larger but fewer meals, their caloric intake is the same as that of wild-type flies. The expression patterns of the leuc and lkr genes identify small groups of brain neurons that regulate th

SUBMITTER: Al-Anzi B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2896026 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature