Epigenetice and neurophysiology of feeding behavior in Drosophila

• Project/Area Number: 25650115
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Animal physiology/Animal behavior
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: TANIMURA Teiichi 九州大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (20142010)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
• Keywords: 食習慣 / 味覚 / 摂食行動 / ショウジョウバエ / 食行動 / 味覚感度 / 後成遺伝学 / エピジェネティクス / 自然集団 / 恒常性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Our bad dietary habits lead us to obesity and hyperglycemia that are associated with disease like diabetes and heart disease. I examined how dietary habits affect gustation and feeding behavior in Drosophila. Flies were fed with two different sugar-agar media for 6 days. I found that feeding ratio of glucose of flies reared on high-sucrose medium is significantly lower than that of flies reared on low-sucrose medium. We showed that amount of stored lipids increased in flies reared on high-sucrose medium. I used next generation of flies reared on standard medium or standard medium without glucose for 6 days. Under this condition, feeding ratio of glucose and taste sensitivity of offspring had no effect by parent’s dietary habits. Flies reared on medium without glucose from early development showed a high feeding ratio of glucose and a high taste sensitivity. These results suggest that gustation and feeding behavior may change by sugar concentration of media from early development.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Learning the specific quality of taste reinforcement in larval Drosophila (2015)
  • Author(s): Schleyer, M., Miura, D., Tanimura,T., & Gerber, B.
  • Journal Title: eLIFE Volume: 4
  • DOI: 10.7554/elife.04711
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] Genetic variation in food choice behaviour of amino acid-deprived Drosophila (2014)
  • Author(s): Naoko Toshima, Chieko Hara, Claus-Jurgen Scholz, Teiichi Tanimura
  • Journal Title: Journal of Insect Physiology Volume: 69 Pages: 89-94
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2014.06.019
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Ultradian rhythm unmasked in the PDF clock mutant of Drosophila. (2014)
  • Author(s): Seki, Y. & Tanimura, T.
  • Journal Title: Journal of Biosciences Volume: 39 Issue: 4 Pages: 585-594
  • DOI: 10.1007/s12038-014-9450-z
  • Peer Reviewed / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Journal Article] C-terminal binding protein (CtBP) activates the expression of E-box clock genes with CLOCK/CYCLE in Drosophila. (2013)
  • Author(s): Itoh T.Q., Matsumoto A., Tanimura T.
  • Journal Title: PLoS ONE Volume: 8 Issue: 4 Pages: e63113-e63113
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063113
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Suppression of conditioned odor approach by feeding is independent of taste and nutritional value in Drosophila. (2013)
  • Author(s): Gruber, F., Knapek, S., Fujita, M., Matsuo, K., Shinzato, N., Bräcker, L., Siwanowicz, I., Tanimura, T. and Tanimoto, H.
  • Journal Title: Current Biology Volume: 23 Issue: 7 Pages: 507-514
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.059
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Journal Article] Effects of overexpression of mitochondrial transcription factor A on lifespan and oxidative stress response in Drosophila melanogaster (2013)
  • Author(s): Matsuda T, Kanki T, Tanimura T, Kang D, Matsuura ET
  • Journal Title: Biochem Biophys Res Commun Volume: 430(2) Issue: 2 Pages: 717-21
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2012.11.084
  • Peer Reviewed