Fitness traits of Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) after long-term laboratory rearing on different diets

Abstract

Abstract. Nutrition is one of the most important environmental factors that infl uence the development and growth in Drosophila. The food composition strongly affects their reproduction, welfare and survival, so it is necessary for fl ies to search for a mixture of macronutrients that maximizes their fi tness. We have fi ve D. melanogaster strains, which were reared for 13 years on fi ve different substrates: standard cornmeal-agar-sugar-yeast medium and four substrates modifi ed by adding tomato, banana, carrot and apple. This study was aimed at determining how such long-term rearing of fl ies on substrates with different protein content affects fi tness traits (dynamics of eclosion, developmental time and egg-to-adult survival). Further, we determined how transferring fl ies reared on fruit/vegetable substrates to a standard laboratory diet affected their fi tness. Results indicate that strains reared on the diet with the lowest content of protein and the highest C/N ratio had the slowest eclosion and developmental time, and lowest egg-to-adult survival (apple diet). The fl ies reared on the diet with the highest protein content and the lowest C/N ratio had the highest survival (tomato diet). Flies reared on the carrot diet, which is quite similar in protein content and C/N ratio to the standard cornmeal diet, had the fastest development. Transferring fl ies to the standard cornmeal diet accelerate eclosion and developmental time, but did not affect survival.

Live yeast in juvenile diet induces species-specific effects on Drosophila adult behaviour and fitness

“…Therefore, the presence of SC (live or dry) in the juvenile diet tended to enhance copulation ability in either sex, depending on the diet treatment of the sex partner. These data again suggest that increased copulatory performances result from an adaptative process after many generations of adaptation on drySC-rich food in the laboratory, as reported for other diets 54,55 . The fact that SC-rich diet also induced enhanced reproductive behaviour suggests that the nutriments contained in both SC and dry SC yeasts participate in this adaptative process.…”

“Scent of a fruit fly”: Cuticular chemoprofiles after mating in differently fed Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) strains

“…These substrates significantly differ in C/N ratio (Trajković, Vujić, et al, 2017), as well as in antioxidant properties (Pavković-Lučić et al, 2017). From generation to generation, flies were maintained in glass 250 ml bottles under the optimal laboratory conditions for the species (25°C, 60% relative humidity, 300 lux, 12:12 h L: D photoperiod).…”

“…In addition, we compared chemoprofile composition and major sex pheromones between virgin (results obtained in Pavković-Lučić et al, 2016) and recently mated flies belonging to those strains. In our previous investigations it has already been found that diet affected those strains on several levels: morphological variability, that is, wing morphology (Trajković et al, 2013(Trajković et al, , 2021, sex comb size and symmetry (Pavković-Lučić et al, 2013), as well as semiochemical profiles (Pavković-Lučić et al, 2016;, and fitness components (Trajković, Vujić, et al, 2017) were monitored.…”

“…From molecular up to organism level, diet is recognized as essential environmental factor for biological processes to take place. It also regulates and modulates different life activities, behaviors, and fitness (Murgier et al, 2019;Trajković, Vujić, et al, 2017;Trajković et al, 2021). Selection of appropriate food in nature could be related with egg-laying behavior, and, consequently, higher fecundity and/or longevity.…”

Effects of cassava starch supplementation on behavioural characteristics and oxidative status in Drosophila melanogaster

“…A low intake of carbohydrates limits the energy reserve of an organism and can slow growth and regeneration, thereby altering survival and safety (Wheeler and Pi-Sunyer, 2008). Over the years, dietary modifications have been employed as a viable strategy to elucidate the mechanisms underlying certain adaptive traits in Drosophila melanogaster including reproductive, developmental as well as behavioural traits (Piper, 2017;Trajković et al, 2017). Furthermore, it has been established that the interplay between energy input and utilization is crucial to the determination of an organism's survival and reproduction and to a great extent the capacity of organism to adjust its developmental, physiological or behavioural response to varying environmental conditions.…”