Effect of starvation on the cold tolerance of adult Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

Abstract

The spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is an invasive pest in Europe and North America. Access to resources may be challenging in late fall, winter and early spring and flies may suffer from food deprivation along with cold stress in these periods. Whereas a plethora of studies have been performed on the overwintering capacity of D. suzukii, the effects of starvation on the fly's cold tolerance have not been addressed. In the present study, young D. suzukii adults (reared at 25°C, LD 12:12 h) were deprived of food for various periods (0, 12, 24 and 36 h), after which chill coma recovery time, critical thermal minimum, as well as acute and chronic cold tolerance were assessed. Additionally, the body composition of adults (body mass, water content, total lipid, glycerol, triglycerides, glucose and proteins) before and after starvation periods was analysed to confirm that starvation had detectable effects. Starved adults had a lower body mass, and both lipid and carbohydrate levels decreased with starvation time. Starvation slightly increased critical thermal minimum and affected chill coma recovery time; however, these changes were not gradual with starvation duration. Starvation promoted acute cold tolerance in both sexes. This effect appeared faster in males than in females. Food deprivation also led to enhanced survival to chronic cold stress. Short-term starvation was thus associated with significant changes in body composition in D. suzukii, and these alterations could alter some ecologically relevant traits related to cold tolerance, particularly in females. Our results suggest that food deprivation during short time (<36 h) can promote cold tolerance (especially survival after a cold stress) of D. suzukii flies. Future studies should address the ecological significance of these findings as short food deprivation may occur in the fields on many occasions and seasons.

Life‐stage‐related desiccation and starvation resistance in the biological control agent Neolema abbreviata

“…Energy consumption is closely related to extreme temperature tolerance such that depletion of energy resources results in compromised cold tolerance (Colinet et al, 2006; Nyamukondiwa & Terblanche, 2009). As such, the compromised cold tolerance following 24‐ and 48‐h starvation in the current study could be attributed to the depletion of energy reserves due to nutrient restriction (Nyamukondiwa & Terblanche, 2009; De Ro et al, 2021). Therefore, the present results indicate cross‐susceptibility of critical thermal limits (cold and heat tolerance) to starvation.…”

Drosophila suzukii energetic pathways are differently modulated by nutritional geometry in males and females

“…The metabolic and energetic signaling pathways are already well characterized in D. melanogaster, a well-studied model of obesity and diabetes, and are closely associated with nutrient richness such as protein:carbohydrate content 4 , 22 . Transferring this knowledge to SWD could contribute to understanding the influence of nutritional geometry on SWD energy and overall fecundity and survival, which modulation appears to have a key role in this pest’s survival during the colder months (overwinter) 37 , and distinguish polyphagy performances of males and females.…”

Lipid Metabolism in Response to Cold

“…While the link between carbohydrate storage and cold tolerance is clear, given carbohydrates' role as cryoprotectant precursors (Storey, 1997), whether lipid levels directly influence cold tolerance is less clear. In the case of D. suzukii, starvation prior to cold stress that reduces lipid reserves concurrently raises CTmin and lengthens chill coma recovery time but improves survival of acute cold shock (De Ro et al, 2021), indicating that distinct cold tolerance traits are differentially affected by energy depletion. These results are consistent with other work showing that dietary composition influences distinct cold tolerance traits in unpredictable ways, and that the precise effect of diet varies across genotypes (Littler et al, 2021).…”