Fitness components of Drosophila melanogaster developed on a standard laboratory diet or a typical natural food source

Abstract

Drosophila melanogaster is often used as a model organism in evolutionary biology and ecophysiology to study evolutionary processes and their physiological mechanisms. Diets used to feed Drosophila cultures differ between laboratories and are often nutritious and distinct from food sources in the natural habitat. Here we rear D. melanogaster on a standard diet used in our laboratory and a field diet composed of decomposing apples collected in the field. Flies developed on these two diet compositions are tested for heat, cold, desiccation, and starvation resistance as well as developmental time, dry body mass and fat percentage. The nutritional compositions of the standard and field diets were analyzed, and discussed in relation to the phenotypic observations. Results showed marked differences in phenotype of flies from the two types of diets. Flies reared on the field diet are more starvation resistant and they are smaller, leaner, and have lower heat resistance compared to flies reared on the standard diet. Sex specific effects of diet type are observed for several of the investigated traits and the strong sexual dimorphism usually observed in desiccation resistance in D. melanogaster disappeared when rearing the flies on the field diet. Based on our results we conclude that care should be taken in extrapolating results from one type of diet to another and especially from laboratory to field diets.

Adult diet of a tephritid fruit fly does not compensate for impact of a poor larval diet on stress resistance

“…Similar results have been found in D. melanogaster, where adults reared from a 'field diet' of decomposing apples rather than a standard diet used in the laboratory were more resistant to starvation, while also being smaller and leaner (Kristensen et al, 2016). In addition, rearing on a standard laboratory diet led to higher adult tolerance of high temperatures in comparison with D. melanogaster reared on the field diet (Kristensen et al, 2016). When reared on a protein-enriched larval diet, adult D. melanogaster exhibit higher heat and desiccation tolerance, but impaired recovery from chill-coma, in comparison with those fed a carbohydrate-enriched diet (Andersen et al, 2010).…”

“…This was despite development on a high yeast larval diet leading to higher body water content on adult emergence. Similar results have been found in D. melanogaster, where adults reared from a 'field diet' of decomposing apples rather than a standard diet used in the laboratory were more resistant to starvation, while also being smaller and leaner (Kristensen et al, 2016). In addition, rearing on a standard laboratory diet led to higher adult tolerance of high temperatures in comparison with D. melanogaster reared on the field diet (Kristensen et al, 2016).…”

“…When reared on a protein-rich larval medium, adult Drosophila melanogaster exhibited increased desiccation resistance and heat tolerance compared with those reared on a carbohydrate-enriched medium (Andersen et al, 2010). Larval development of D. melanogaster in a field diet of mostly decomposing apples led to lower critical thermal maximum, dry body mass and fat content, but higher starvation resistance, in comparison with development on a standard laboratory diet (Kristensen et al, 2016). Mexican fruit flies (Anastrepha ludens) reared on a carbohydrate-based larval diet exhibited longer larval and pupal development than those reared on a highly protein-biased diet (Pascacio-Villaf et al, 2016).…”

Interacting with change: Diet mediates how larvae respond to their thermal environment

“…Nutrition itself affects key life-history traits, and many studies have shown that caloric content, macronutrient composition and the relative ratios between macronutrients all have significant effects. For instance, low protein to carbohydrate (P:C) ratios generally result in lower pre-adult viability and longer development time and smaller body sizes in a range of insects, including caterpillars (Roeder & Behmer, 2014;Simpson, Sibly, Lee, Behmer, & Raubenheimer, 2004) and Drosophilid fruit flies (Bakker, 1959;Bradshaw & Holzapfel, 2008;Gray, Simpson, & Polak, 2018;Kristensen et al, 2016;Matavelli, Carvalho, Martins, & Mirth, 2015;Rodrigues et al, 2015;Silva-Soares, Nogueira-Alves, Beldade, & Mirth, 2017). Further, nutritional optima vary depending on the trait and species under study (Gray et al, 2018;Matavelli et al, 2015;Rodrigues et al, 2015).…”

Genetic variation for egg‐to‐adult survival in Drosophila melanogaster in a set of recombinant inbred lines reared under heat stress in a natural thermal environment

“…Four such vials were replicated per RIL and all vials were kept at 25 AE 1°C. After 22-24 h, 40 eggs were collected from each spoon and transferred to bananas (20-23 cm long), as standardized laboratory culture media could affect heat-stress resistance patterns when compared to natural feeding and breeding resources for Drosophila (e.g., decomposing fruits; Kristensen et al, 2016). In these banana cultures, a section (1 9 18 cm) of the fruit epidermis was removed to allow the transfer of eggs into the fruit.…”