Hydrogen sulfide exposure increases desiccation tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster.
Hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) has been shown to effect physiological alterations in several animals, frequently leading to an improvement in survival in otherwise lethal conditions. In the present paper, a volatility bioassay system was developed to evaluate the survivorship of Drosophila melanogaster adults exposed to H(2)S gas that emanated from a K(2)S donor. Using this bioassay system, we found that H(2)S exposure significantly increased the survival of flies under arid and food-free conditions, but not under humid and food-free conditions. This suggests that H(2)S plays a role in desiccation tolerance but not in nutritional stress alleviation. To further confirm the suggestion, the mRNA levels of two desiccation tolerance-related genes Frost and Desat2, and a starvation-related gene Smp-30, from the control and treated flies were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. These genes were up-regulated within 2h when the flies transferred to the arid and food-free bioassay system. Addition of H(2)S further increased Frost and Desat2 mRNA levels, in contrast to Smp-30. Thus, our molecular results were consistent with our bioassay findings. Because of the molecular and genetic tools available for Drosophila, the fly will be a useful system for determining how H(2)S regulates various physiological alterations.
Zhong
Jian-Feng
JF
Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Key Laboratory of Monitoring and Management of Crop Diseases and Pest Insects, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, China.
Wang
Shu-Ping
SP
Shi
Xiao-Qin
XQ
Mu
Li-li
LL
Li
Guo-Qing
GQ
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D003890:Desiccation; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C431557:Fst protein, Drosophila; D012313:RNA; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases; C499595:desat2 protein, Drosophila; D006862:Hydrogen Sulfide