Size matters (but so does time), and it's OK to be different.
In this issue of Developmental Cell, Layalle et al. reveal new insights into how nutrition controls body size in Drosophila. Nutrition specifically affects the activity of target of rapamycin (TOR) in the prothoracic gland. Under low-nutrition conditions, TOR suppresses ecdysone secretion--which otherwise terminates larval development--thereby prolonging growth and allowing larvae to still attain a near-normal body size.
Nijhout
H Frederik
HF
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. hfn@duke.edu
D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size / Q000235:genetics*; D004032:Diet; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004440:Ecdysone / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D020123:Sirolimus / Q000378:metabolism*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004440:Ecdysone; D020123:Sirolimus