Meeting Abstract

P3.27  Jan. 6  Effects of Starvation Selection on Energy Storage and Metabolic Rates in Drosophila melanogaster SENEVIRATNE, E.*; GIBBS, A. G.; University of Nevada, Las Vegas stargiggles4evr@aol.com

We have begun selection for starvation resistance in replicated populations of Drosophila melanogaster. The starting populations had served as starved control populations for a series of desiccation-selected lines, and therefore had previously undergone mild starvation selection (up to 40 hours each generation). We increased the intensity of selection so that >80% of each population died from starvation each generation (currently ~120 hours). Because of their previous selection history, starved (S) lines were heavier and contained more carbohydrates and triglycerides, but not protein, than fed control (F) populations at the start of the experiment. Starved lines also had lower metabolic rates than F lines. After only 5 generations of selection, carbohydrate and triglyceride levels increased significantly in S populations, particularly in female flies. These populations should prove useful in understanding the genetic basis for variation in energy storage. Supported by the National Science Foundation.