Characterization of a method for quantitating food consumption for mutation assays in <i>Drosophila</i>

Thompson, Elizabeth I.; Reeder, Bruce; Bruce, Robert D.

doi:10.1002/em.2850180104

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…We measured the water consumption of flies fed two different concentrations (dietary restriction, DR; concentrated medium, CM) of yeast extract/sucrose (YE/S) medium by providing ad libitum water labeled with a radioactive tracer (21)(22)(23). Flies were housed in population cages containing separate food and water sources of similar surface area.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water- and nutrient-dependent effects of dietary restriction on Drosophila lifespan

Carvalho

Zid

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

100

146

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Dietary restriction (DR) is a widely conserved intervention leading to lifespan extension. Despite considerable effort, the mechanisms underlying DR remain poorly understood. In particular, it remains unclear whether DR prolongs life through conserved mechanisms in different species. Here, we show that, in the most common experimental conditions, lifespan extension by DR is abolished by providing Drosophila with ad libitum water, without altering food intake, indicating that DR, as conventionally studied in flies, is fundamentally different from the phenomenon studied in mammals. We characterize an alternative dietary paradigm that elicits robust lifespan extension irrespective of water availability, and thus likely represents a more relevant model for mammalian DR. Our results support the view that protein:carbohydrate ratio is the main dietary determinant of fly lifespan. These findings have broad implications for the study of lifespan and nutrition.aging ͉ caloric restriction ͉ dehydration ͉ longevity ͉ nutrition D ietary restriction (DR), classically defined as a reduction in nutrient availability short of malnutrition, can extend the lifespan of organisms ranging from yeast to mice (1, 2). In rodents and primates, DR delays the onset of age-related pathologies, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes (3-5). Chronic DR also elicits a number of physiological changes, including decreased circulating glucose, insulin, and cholesterol levels; reduced body mass; and compromised reproductive function (5-8). Despite the evident biomedical interest in DR, its mechanistic basis remains largely unknown, and it is unclear whether DR extends lifespan in different species through similar mechanisms (9, 10). This issue is of fundamental importance, since invertebrate model systems are especially valued for their ability to provide mechanistic clues to be tested in mammals.In mammals, food restriction is imposed by feeding the DR cohort a fraction of that ingested by the ad libitum group (2). Due to the difficulty of controlling feeding rates in invertebrates, more ingenious, albeit potentially problematic, techniques are used. Drosophila DR is commonly achieved by total food dilution (11) and carried out in the absence of a separate water source, unlike with other species (12-16). Hence, fly food is simultaneously the source of nutrients* and water. This setup prevents flies from independently regulating nutrient and water intake, leaving room for the possibility that any effects of food dilution are mediated by changes in hydration.Our results show that lifespan extension by typical DR regimes (17-20) can be entirely abolished by providing flies with free access to water. Water supplementation does not affect food consumption, suggesting that DR, as typically applied, does not impact longevity through reduced nutrient intake. Furthermore, we characterize a regime that elicits robust lifespan extension independent of water supplementation. Our findings suggest that most of the work done on Drosophila DR has b...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water- and nutrient-dependent effects of dietary restriction on Drosophila lifespan

Carvalho

Zid

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

100

146

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“…Preliminary experiments with a M/2 saccharose solution containing hydrogen peroxide (3.3%, w/v) and the indigo carmine stain (E132) showed that flies fed on it because their abdomen was colored in blue and blue fecal spots were observed: thus, flies did not die simply because they did not feed (see Thompson et al 1991 for a discussion of starvation in toxicology experiments).…”

Section: Longevity With Hydrogen Peroxidementioning

confidence: 99%

Hormetic effects on longevity of hydrogen peroxide in Drosophila melanogaster flies living on a poorly nutritious medium

Bourg

2006

Biogerontology

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Subjecting flies to a mild stress at a young age may increase longevity and protect against strong stresses occurring at middle age. The purpose of this article is to test whether a mild stress could also increase survival time of flies living in stressful conditions. Flies were transferred at middle age in vials where they could only feed on a saccharose solution without any other nutrient. This poor medium is known to decrease longevity and it was hypothetized that adding hydrogen peroxide to it could minimize this negative effect. While high doses of hydrogen peroxide decreased further longevity, a low dose increased it in 4-week-old males and, only in some experiments, in females. This low dose had however not any positive effect on behavioral aging, resistance to heat and starvation. The positive effect of hydrogen peroxide appeared not to be due to a sanitary action upon the environment. Rather, it seems that hydrogen peroxide was a mild stress helping flies to cope with the negative effects of saccharose on longevity. Therefore, it is concluded that hydrogen peroxide, beyond the deleterious effects of high doses, could have positive effects in organisms when used at a low dose, particularly in stressful living conditions.

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“…One di¤culty of this procedure is that the amount of ingested food is usually unknown, and that lethality associated with high doses may re£ect feeding rejection and thus starvation [8].…”

Section: Adding Antioxidants To Foodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxidative stress, aging and longevity in Drosophila melanogaster

Bourg

2001

FEBS Letters

113

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Free radicals produced during normal metabolism cause damage to macromolecules. The free radical theory of aging proposes that the organism is unable to repair all of them and that, with time, unrepaired damages accumulate and put the organism at risk: in other words, free radicals provoke aging and death. This article reviews both the results of adding antioxidants to food on longevity in Drosophila melanogaster, as well as the studies on antioxidant enzymes (inactivation in vivo, null mutants, overexpression). It is concluded that antioxidant enzymes are probably poorly connected to the normal aging process, but they allow the organism to cope with stressful conditions. ß

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Characterization of a method for quantitating food consumption for mutation assays in Drosophila

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

Water- and nutrient-dependent effects of dietary restriction on Drosophila lifespan

Water- and nutrient-dependent effects of dietary restriction on Drosophila lifespan

Hormetic effects on longevity of hydrogen peroxide in Drosophila melanogaster flies living on a poorly nutritious medium

Oxidative stress, aging and longevity in Drosophila melanogaster

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