Klepsatel P, Knoblochová D, Girish TN, Dircksen H, Gáliková M. The influence of developmental diet on reproduction and metabolism in Drosophila.
BMC Evol Biol 2020;
20:93. [PMID:
32727355 PMCID:
PMC7392729 DOI:
10.1186/s12862-020-01663-y]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
The adaptive significance of phenotypic changes elicited by environmental conditions experienced early in life has long attracted attention in evolutionary biology. In this study, we used Drosophila melanogaster to test whether the developmental diet produces phenotypes better adapted to cope with similar nutritional conditions later in life. To discriminate among competing hypotheses on the underlying nature of developmental plasticity, we employed a full factorial design with several developmental and adult diets. Specifically, we examined the effects of early- and late-life diets (by varying their yeast and sugar contents) on reproductive fitness and on the amount of energy reserves (fat and glycogen) in two wild-caught populations.
Results
We found that individuals that had developed on either low-yeast or high-sugar diet showed decreased reproductive performance regardless of their adult nutritional environment. The lower reproductive fitness might be caused by smaller body size and reduced ovariole number. Overall, these results are consistent with the silver spoon concept, which posits that development in a suboptimal environment negatively affects fitness-associated traits. On the other hand, the higher amount of energy reserves (fat) in individuals that had developed in a suboptimal environment might represent either an adaptive response or a side-effect of compensatory feeding.
Conclusion
Our findings suggest that the observed differences in the adult physiology induced by early-life diet likely result from inevitable and general effects of nutrition on the development of reproductive and metabolic organs, rather than from adaptive mechanisms.
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