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.
Department of Cellular Biology, and Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, 724 Biological Sciences Building, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
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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