Comparing the impacts of macronutrients on life-history traits in larval and adult Drosophila melanogaster: the use of nutritional geometry and chemically defined diets

• DOI: 10.1242/jeb.181115
• Publication Date: 2018-08-31T09:44:26Z
• Authors: Taehwan Jang; Kwang Pum Lee
• Keywords: Melanogaster; Life History Theory

Protein and carbohydrate are the two major macronutrients that exert profound influences over fitness in many organisms, including Drosophila melanogaster. Our understanding of how these shape components D. melanogaster has been greatly enhanced by use nutritional geometry, but most geometric analyses on this species have conducted using semi-synthetic diets not chemically well-defined. Here we combined geometry defined to compare patterns larval adult life-history traits expressed across 34 systematically varying protein:carbohydrate (P:C) ratio protein plus (P+C) concentration. The response surfaces constructed for all differed significantly from one another, with optima being identified at P:C 1:4 lifespan (P+C 120 g l−1), 1:2 egg-to-adult viability (120 1:1 female body mass eclosion (240 l−1) lifetime fecundity (360 2:1 developmental rate (60 8:1 egg production l−1). Such divergence among indicates confined a single diet cannot maximize expression simultaneously thus may face trade-off. data provide comprehensive nutritionally explicit analysis impacts support emerging notion fundamental trade-offs mediated macronutrients.