Dietary l-arginine accelerates pupation and promotes high protein levels but induces oxidative stress and reduces fecundity and life span in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

L-Arginine, a precursor of many amino acids and of nitric oxide, plays multiple important roles in nutrient metabolism and regulation of physiological functions. In this study, the effects of L-arginine-enriched diets on selected physiological responses and metabolic processes were assessed in Drosophila melanogaster. Dietary L-arginine at concentrations 5-20 mM accelerated larval development and increased body mass, and total protein concentrations in third instar larvae, but did not affect these parameters when diets contained 100 mM arginine. Young (2 days old) adult flies of both sexes reared on food supplemented with 20 and 100 mM L-arginine possessed higher total protein concentrations and lower glucose and triacylglycerol concentrations than controls. Additionally, flies fed 20 mM L-arginine had higher proline and uric acid concentrations. L-Arginine concentration in the diet also affected oxidative stress intensity in adult flies. Food with 20 mM L-arginine promoted lower protein thiol concentrations and higher catalase activity in flies of both sexes and higher concentrations of low molecular mass thiols in males. When flies were fed on a diet with 100 mM L-arginine, lower catalase activities and concentrations of protein thiols were found in both sexes as well as lower low molecular mass thiols in females. L-Arginine-fed males demonstrated higher climbing activity, whereas females showed higher cold tolerance and lower fecundity, compared with controls. Food containing 20 mM L-arginine shortened life span in both males and females. The results suggest that dietary L-arginine shows certain beneficial effects at the larval stage and in young adults. However, the long-term consumption of L-arginine-enriched food had unfavorable effects on D. melanogaster due to decreasing fecundity and life span.

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

“…However, we do not know whether the variation in fecundity was caused by an increased number of progeny (in SC × HU pairs), or an increased of preimaginal mortality (in SC × drySC pairs). On the one hand, an increased progeny could be a direct consequence of the amino acid content (due to the yeast present in the juvenile diet) influencing the quality and quantity of gametes produced and/or the number of eggs laid 45,56 . On the other hand, an increased lethality could be caused by a lower level of gametic compatibility between the two sex partners according to their respective juvenile diet as described in Callosobruchus maculatus 57 .…”

Effect of dietary inclusions of bitter kola seed on geotactic behavior and oxidative stress markers in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Adaptive response, which is the ability of an organism to effectively counteract cellular damages induced by cytotoxic agents such as free radicals, has been identified in D. melanogaster (Abolaji et al., 2017). Such elevation in antioxidant enzymes’ activities as an adaptive response to cytotoxic agents has been previously reported in D. melanogaster, and they are often accompanied by impairments in cellular thiol levels (Abolaji et al., 2017; Bayliak et al., 2018; Perkhulyn et al., 2017). Thiols represent the major portion of cellular antioxidant systems, and they play a vital role in defense against ROS (Mungli, Shetty, Tilak, & Anwar, 2009).…”

Effect of Methanolic Extract of Caryota no on Antioxidant Levels in Drosophila melanogaster

“…Adaptive response, which is the ability of an organism to effectively counteract cellular damages induced by cytotoxic agents such as free radicals, has been identified in D. melanogaster [6]. Such elevation in activities of antioxidant enzymes as an adaptive response to cytotoxic agents has been previously reported in D. melanogaster, and they are often accompanied by impairments in cellular thiol levels [7,8]. In fact, experimental evidences have implicated oxidative stress in D. melanogaster in the pathophysiology of several disease conditions [9,10].…”