Protein Found That Links Larval Diet to Lifespan in Fruit Flies
A RIKEN-led study in Nature identifies a protein that carries a record of larval diet into adulthood, influencing how long fruit flies live.
A team led by Fumiaki Obata at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Kobe, Japan, has identified a protein that carries a record of what fruit flies ate as larvae into adulthood, where it influences their lifespan. The study was published in Nature.
Fruit flies given a low-protein diet roughly halfway through the larval period, then returned to standard food as adults, outlived well-fed siblings. The protein-restricted flies weighed up to 28 percent less, were paler and lighter, and females laid fewer eggs.
When the researchers added amino acids back into the low-yeast larval food, the lifespan boost disappeared. The finding points to a specific molecular record of early diet that persists long after the larval stage ends.
Long-standing observation, new mechanism
In the 1930s, scientists noticed that water fleas and rats fed restricted diets while young lived longer. The same dietary restriction effect has since been found in fruit flies and mice. The new work, reported by arstechnica.com, identifies a protein that may help explain how that early-life memory is stored and later acted upon.
Quick answers
What did the researchers find?
They identified a protein that carries a record of larval diet into adulthood and influences lifespan in fruit flies.
What happened to the flies on a low-protein larval diet?
They outlived well-fed siblings, weighed up to 28 percent less, were paler and lighter, and females laid fewer eggs.
Did adding amino acids change the result?
Yes. Adding amino acids back into the low-yeast larval food eliminated the lifespan boost.