Accelerated food source location in aging Drosophila

Aging Cell

Sada M. Egenriether¹  Eileen S. Chow¹  Nathalie Krauth¹ 

[1] Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

关键词: ageing;    behavior;    genetics;    signalling;   

DOI  :  10.1111/acel.12361

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Summary

Adequate energy stores are essential for survival, and sophisticated neuroendocrine mechanisms evolved to stimulate foraging in response to nutrient deprivation. Food search behavior is usually investigated in young animals, and it is not known how aging alters this behavior. To address this question in Drosophila melanogaster, we compared the ability to locate food by olfaction in young and old flies using a food-filled trap. As aging is associated with a decline in motor functions, learning, and memory, we expected that aged flies would take longer to enter the food trap than their young counterparts. Surprisingly, old flies located food with significantly shorter latency than young ones. Robust food search behavior was associated with significantly lower fat reserves and lower starvation resistance in old flies. Food-finding latency (FFL) was shortened in young wild-type flies that were starved until their fat was depleted but also in heterozygous chico mutants with reduced insulin receptor activity and higher fat deposits. Conversely, food trap entry was delayed in old flies with increased insulin signaling. Our results suggest that the difference in FFL between young and old flies is linked to age-dependent differences in metabolic status and may be mediated by reduced insulin signaling.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 The Authors. Aging Cell published by the Anatomical Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.