A1 Journal article (refereed)
Nutritional stress in larvae induces adaptive responses that transcend generations in males of a model insect (2025)
Davies, L. R., Kristensen, T. N., Sørensen, J. G., Loeschcke, V., & Schou, M. F. (2025). Nutritional stress in larvae induces adaptive responses that transcend generations in males of a model insect. Journal of Experimental Biology, 228(2), Article jeb247972. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.247972
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Davies, Lucy Rebecca; Kristensen, Torsten N.; Sørensen, Jesper G.; Loeschcke, Volker; Schou, Mads F.
Journal or series: Journal of Experimental Biology
ISSN: 0022-0949
eISSN: 1477-9145
Publication year: 2025
Publication date: 15/01/2025
Volume: 228
Issue number: 2
Article number: jeb247972
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.247972
Publication open access: Openly available
Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/99612
Abstract
The ability of organisms to cope with poor quality nutrition is essential for their persistence. For species with a short generation time, the nutritional environments can transcend generations, making it beneficial for adults to prime their offspring to particular diets. However, our understanding of adaptive generational responses, including those to diet quality, are still very limited. Here, we used the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to investigate whether females developing as larvae on a nutritionally poor diet produce offspring that are primed for nutrient deficiencies in the following generations. We found that females developed on low-quality diets produced offspring that, on similarly low-quality diets, had both increased egg-to-adult viability and starvation tolerance compared with offspring of females experiencing a nutrient-rich diet. When testing the persistence of such generational priming, we found that just one generation of high-quality diet is sufficient to erase the signal of priming. A global transcriptomic profile analysis on male offspring suggests that the observed phenotypic priming is not a constitutive transcriptomic adjustment of adults; instead, offspring are probably primed as larvae, enabling them to initiate an adaptive response as adults when exposed to low-quality diets. Our results support that generational priming is an important adaptive mechanism that enables organisms to cope with transient nutritional fluctuations.
Keywords: nutrition; nutritional deficiencies; descendants; Drosophila melanogaster; phenotype; transcriptome; evolution theory; evolutionary biology
Free keywords: maternal effects; starvation; Drosophila; nutrition; variable environment
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
VIRTA submission year: 2025
Preliminary JUFO rating: 2