A defined diet for pre-adult Drosophila melanogaster

Felipe Martelli, Annelise Quig, Sarah Mele, Jiayi Lin, Tahlia L. Fulton, Mia Wansbrough, Christopher K. Barlow, Ralf B. Schittenhelm, Travis K. Johnson, Matthew D.W. Piper

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster is unique among animal models because it has a fully defined synthetic diet available to study nutrient-gene interactions. However, use of this diet is limited to adult studies due to impaired larval development and survival. Here, we provide an adjusted formula that reduces the developmental period, restores fat levels, enhances body mass, and fully rescues survivorship without compromise to adult lifespan. To demonstrate an application of this formula, we explored pre-adult diet compositions of therapeutic potential in a model of an inherited metabolic disorder affecting the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids. We reveal rapid, specific, and predictable nutrient effects on the disease state consistent with observations from mouse and patient studies. Together, our diet provides a powerful means with which to examine the interplay between diet and metabolism across all life stages in an animal model.

Original languageEnglish
Article number6974
Number of pages9
JournalScientific Reports
Volume14
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2024

Keywords

  • Acetate
  • Amino acids
  • Developmental timing
  • Fruit flies
  • Holidic diet
  • Lipids
  • Nutrigenomics
  • Precision nutrition

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