The Journal of Experimental Biology · 2 authors, 1 centre
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This study used laboratory-selected Drosophila populations to show that selection for starvation resistance leads to reduced and delayed ecdysone hormone production during larval development. This hormonal change is a key mechanism underlying the extended larval development that contributes to increased adult fat storage and survival under starvation.
The study investigated the developmental mechanisms underlying starvation resistance in Drosophila melanogaster. Researchers compared a starvation-selected (SS) population to a fed control (FC) population. The SS population exhibited extended larval and pupal development, with the majority of the delay occurring in the third larval instar. Enzyme immunoassays confirmed the SS population had reduced and delayed ecdysteroid levels. Feeding third instar larvae α-ecdysone partially rescued the developmental delay and reduced subsequent adult starvation resistance. These findings demonstrate that starvation selection leads to altered ecdysone signaling, which is a contributing mechanism for the developmental delay phenotype. A key limitation noted is that the ecdysteroid measurements were not taken from the same cohorts as the developmental staging, preventing direct mapping of hormone levels to specific checkpoints.
