Epigenetice and neurophysiology of feeding behavior in Drosophila

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• 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
• Keywords: 食習慣 / 味覚 / 摂食行動 / ショウジョウバエ

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.

Free Research Field

行動生理遺伝学