Data from: Context-dependent effects of developmental and adult diet on life-history traits in Drosophila melanogaster

Chandrakanth, Mohankumar1 ; Kumar, Nishant1 ; Sura, Chand1 ; Tung, Sudipta 1

Published Aug 02, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6hdr7sr9h

Data files

Aug 02, 2025 version files 742.58 MB

Abstract

Life-history traits such as body size, reproduction, survival, and stress resistance are fundamental to an organism's fitness and are highly influenced by nutritional environments across life stages. In this study, we employed a full factorial experimental design to investigate the effects of isocaloric diets (diets with equal caloric content but differing macronutrient composition) on key life-history traits in an outbred Drosophila melanogaster population. Our results demonstrated significant diet-induced plasticity, with male wing length (a proxy for body size) being influenced by the developmental diet; males reared on carbohydrate-rich developmental diets had larger wings as adults. Fertility increased with protein-rich diets at both developmental and adult stages, reaffirming the critical role of dietary protein in enhancing reproductive success. Lifespan exhibited sexually dimorphic responses to diet: carbohydrate-rich developmental diets extended male lifespan, while carbohydrate-rich adult diets reduced lifespan in both sexes. Stress resistance traits, including starvation and desiccation resistance, were unaffected by developmental diets but were influenced by adult diets, with carbohydrate-rich adult diets enhancing survival under both stress conditions in males and females. Importantly, while most traits exhibited additive effects of nutrition across life stages, a marginal interaction for male starvation resistance suggests that developmental and adult diets can interact in a trait- and sex-specific manner. Moreover, associations between dietary effects on life-history traits were context-dependent, driven primarily by adult diets and varying by sex. These findings emphasize the profound role of stage-specific nutritional environments in modulating life-history traits and their correlations, offering valuable insights into how organisms may adapt to changing ecological conditions and highlighting the importance of considering both developmental and adult dietary contexts in evolutionary studies.

Authors and Contact Information

Mohankumar Chandrakanth – Chandrakanth.m_phd21@ashoka.edu.in
Nishant Kumar – nishant.kumar@ashoka.edu.in
Chand Sura – chand@ashoka.edu.in
Sudipta Tung – sudipta.tung@ashoka.edu.in

Study Summary

This dataset accompanies our study examining how stage-specific, isocaloric dietary compositions affect key life-history traits in Drosophila melanogaster. By altering the macronutrient composition (protein: carbohydrate ratio) during larval and adult stages, we assess how mismatches between developmental and adult nutrition influence traits such as body size, fertility, longevity, starvation resistance, and desiccation resistance.

Dataset Structure

The dataset is organized into several CSV files and one ZIP archive, each corresponding to data underlying a specific figure in the manuscript. Each data file contains cleaned, raw values ready for analysis or reanalysis.

Files Included

File Name	Description	Corresponding Figure
`Winglength.csv`	Measurements of wing length (proxy for body size) across diet treatments.	Figure 1
`Fertility.csv`	Fertility (offspring count) across treatments and time points.	Figure 2
`Survival_Longevity.csv`	Lifespan (in days) under different dietary treatments.	Figure 3
`Survival_Starvation.csv`	Time to death under starvation conditions.	Figure 4
`Survival_Desiccation.csv`	Time to death under desiccation (dry) conditions.	Figure 5
`images_for_winglength.zip`	Original images used for generating wing length data.	Supporting Figure 1

Variable Descriptions

Below is a general description of common variables found in the datasets:

Larval_foodDiet during larval stage (e.g., "Carbohydrate-rich", "Protein-rich")
Adult_foodDiet during adult stage (e.g., "Carbohydrate-rich", "Protein-rich")
SexSex of the fly ("Male", "Female")
VialBiological replicate number
Wing_length_(mm)Length of the fly wing (in mm)
FertilityNumber of offspring produced
AliveDuration (in hours or days) for which the flies remained alive (dataset-dependent)
DeathTime point (in hours or days) at which death occurred (dataset-dependent)
Status: Survival status indicator (0 = censored; 1 = event occurred/death)
Note: Variable names may vary slightly between datasets. Please refer to the header row in each CSV file for exact labels.

Data in this upload are organized based on the figure they appear in, in the publication: doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voaf091.

Usage Notes

All data were collected under controlled laboratory conditions using standardized protocols.
CSV files are UTF-8 encoded and compatible with most data analysis software.
Wing length was measured using ImageJ from the raw images provided in the ZIP archive consisting of 4 folders (CC, CP, PC, and PP) based on diet regimes where C represents carbohydrates and P represents protein.