Life History Response of Mediterranean Fruit Flies to Dietary Restriction

Authors

James R. Carey, University of California, DavisFollow
Pablo Liedo, El Colegio de la Frontera SurFollow
Lawrence G. Harshman, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Ying Zhang, University of California, Davis
Hans-Georg Müller, University of California, DavisFollow
Linda Partridge, University College LondonFollow
Jane-Ling Wang, University of California, DavisFollow

Date of this Version

2002

Document Type

Article

Citation

Aging Cell 1 (2002), pp. 140–148.

Comments

Copyright © 2002 Blackwell Publishing Ltd./Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Used by permission.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate medfly longevity and reproduction across a broad spectrum of diet restriction using a protocol similar to those applied in most rodent studies. Age-specific reproduction and age of death were monitored for 1,200 adult males and 1,200 females, each individually maintained on one of 12 diets from ad libitum to 30% of ad libitum. Diet was provided in a fixed volume of solution that was fully consumed each day, ensuring control of total nutrient consumption for every fly. Contrary to expectation and precedence, increased longevity was not observed at any level of diet restriction. Among females, reproduction continued across all diet levels despite the cost in terms of increased mortality. Among males, life expectancy exceeded that of females at most diet levels. However, in both sexes, mortality increased more sharply and the pattern of survival changed abruptly once the diet level fell to 50% of ad libitum or below, even though the energetic demands of egg production has no obvious counterpart in males. We believe that a more complete picture of the life table response to dietary restriction will emerge when studies are conducted on a wider range of species and include both sexes, more levels of diet, and the opportunity for mating and reproduction.