Meeting Abstract
Vespa Amino Acid Mixture or VAAM is a chemical compound found naturally in Japanese giant hornet larva (Vespa mandarinia japonica). VAAM, via tropholactic delivery from larva to adult, assists hornets in flying great distances to bring back resources to the colony. Although studies in our laboratory have shown that VAAM acts as a mitochondrial accelerator, little is still known about how it works inside the mitochondria. The purpose of this study is to expand our understanding of how VAAM works to modulate mitochondrial function and the subsequent influences of this on development and behavior. Two mutant strains of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) that have known mutations impacting ATPase subunit 6 and Cytochrome c oxidase were exposed to VAAM. Longitudinal measures of mortality and endurance were conducted to determine whether or not VAAM has any effect on that particular part of the mitochondria. Here we discuss our findings and how they relate both to VAAM and to functioning of the electron transport chain as modulated by these particular mutations.
