Co-regulation of cold-resistant food acquisition by insulin- and neuropeptide Y-like systems in Drosophila melanogaster.
To survive, food-deprived animals may be forced to forage under hostile conditions. We attempt to use genetically tractable Drosophila melanogaster as a model to elucidate molecular and neural mechanisms that drive a forager to engage in risk-prone food acquisition. Here we describe a paradigm for assessing hunger-driven food acquisition by fly larvae at a deleteriously cold temperature. Genetic analyses reveal that the neural activity of NPFR1, a receptor of neuropeptide F (NPF, the sole fly homolog of neuropeptide Y or NPY), was required for cold-resistant feeding behavior of fasted larvae. Conversely, NPFR1 overexpression in fed larvae was sufficient to trigger cold-resistant feeding activity normally associated with fasted larvae. Furthermore, the fly insulin-like system, implicated in the transduction of hunger signals to the CNS, regulated negatively larval cold-resistant food acquisition. The results from this and our previous studies suggest that the fly NPY-like system is a central mediator of hunger-elicited resistance to diverse stressors that can be of thermal, gustatory or mechanical form.
Lingo
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PR
Department of Cellular Biology, and Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, 724 Biological Sciences Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Zhao
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Z
Shen
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P
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003080:Cold Temperature; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005508:Food Deprivation; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D007814:Larva; D008954:Models, Biological; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000378:metabolism*; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D007328:Insulin; C499701:NPFR protein, Drosophila; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D012330:RNA, Double-Stranded; D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide