Data from: Drosophila disengage systemic protein storage as an evolutionary response to chronic larval malnutrition
Data files
May 29, 2026 version files 54.62 KB
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Fig_1_(A-R)-_GFN_experiment.csv
43.61 KB
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Fig_2_(C_E_G)-Four_diet_experiment.csv
2.48 KB
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Fig_2_(D_F_H)_-Two_diet_experiment.csv
1.24 KB
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Fig_3_(A-C)_-_RT_PCR_data.csv
3.55 KB
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Fig_3_(G-I)_-_Western_blot_data.csv
1.88 KB
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README.md
1.86 KB
Abstract
Nutritional geometry was used to explore the effects of dietary composition on larval developmental traits in Drosophila melanogaster populations that had been subjected to long-term selection under poorer or richer nutritional conditions. When tested across a range of diets varying systematically in the ratio of protein to carbohydrate (P:C) and energy density, larvae that were adapted to the poorer nutritional condition developed faster to a smaller size with greater pupation success rates than did control larvae under a combination of low protein and low carbohydrate dietary conditions that were equivalent to the ancestral diet composition, indicating evolutionary tuning to ensure viability on the poor ancestral diet. Results from measurement of haemolymph storage proteins suggested that larvae that were selected under a poor food environment utilized ingested protein for immediate larval growth, rather than for transcribing haemolymph storage proteins in preparation for adult metamorphosis. Our study illustrates the potential for the nutritional environment to induce selection on life-history traits that span across life stages. What is more, we demonstrate the power of the fly as a model for studying the mechanisms underlying differences in susceptibility and responses to nutrition transitions.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.9cnp5hqwd
Description of the data and file structure
All data presented in the MS has been tabulated and presented as 5 .csv files.
- Fig_1_(A-R)-_GFN_experiment.csv
- Fig_2_(C_E_G)-Four_diet_experiment.csv
- Fig_2_(D_F_H)_-Two_diet_experiment.csv
- Fig_3_(A-C)_-_RT_PCR_data.csv
- Fig_3_(G-I)_-_Western_blot_data.csv
The data contained in each .csv file is detailed below
- Fig_1_(A-R)-_GFN_experiment.csv - has data on the three traits ( body mass, pupation success, and developmental rate) for the GFN experiment on 15 larval diets. Data presented in this worksheet was used to generate the graphical representations in Figure 1 of the MS and in the corresponding Data analysis ( see methods). Furthermore, the code and data associated with the analysis of the GFN experiment are available at https://github.com/AlistairMcNairSenior/GFN_Droso_Evol.
- Fig_2_(C_E_G)-Four_diet_experiment.csv - has data on the same three traits for the four-diet experiment and is graphically presented in Figure 2 C, E, and G.
- Fig_2_(D_F_H)_-Two_diet_experiment.csv - has data on the same three traits for the two diets (Standard and rich) and is graphically presented in Figure 2 D, F, and H.
- Fig_3_(A-C)_-_RT_PCR_data.csv - presents gene expression data for the three storage proteins in the six control and six selected populations, which is graphically presented in Figure 3 A, B, and C.
- Fig_3_(G-I)_-_Western_blot_data.csv - presents quantification of immunostained Western blots of the three storage proteins in a representative pair of control and selected population, and is graphically presented in Figure 3 G, H, and I.