Tag Archives: offspring

Protein content in the parental diet affects cold tolerance and antioxidant system state in the offspring Drosophila

O. M. Strilbytska1*, U. V. Semaniuk1, N. I. Burdyliuk1, O. V. Lushchak1,2*

1Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine;
2Research and Development University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine;
*e-mail: olya_b08@ukr.net or oleh.lushchak@pnu.edu.ua

Received: 02 February 2021; Accepted: 21 January 2022

Dietary nutrients are the key determinants of the lifespan and metabolic health. The content of specific dietary compounds in the parental diet can epigenetically affect the physiological state of the offspring. Here, we studied how variable dietary protein content in the diet of parental generation affects antioxidant capacity of Drosophila melanogaster adult offspring. The dry yeast concentration ranging from 0.25% to 15% in the parental diet was the only variable in the experiments, whereas subsequent generation was kept on a diet of the same composition. We found, that flies fed with yeast-restricted (0.25%) diet produced F1 male flies with a higher cold tolerance and higher activity of the second-line antioxidant enzymes whereas in F1 females no effect of parental diet composition on the cold tolerance, catalase, GST, G6PDH, IDH activity and low thiols content was detected. The results suggest that nutrient-dependent changes of genes expression in the flies of paternal generation differently affect the stress response of males and females of the first-generation offspring.

Yeast concentration in the diet defines Drosophila metabolism of both parental and offspring generations

O. M. Strilbytska1*, N. P. Stefanyshyn1,
U. V. Semaniuk1, O. V. Lushchak1,2*

1Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine;
2Research and Development University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine;
*e-mail: olya_b08@ukr.net or oleh.lushchak@pnu.edu.ua

Received: 18 April 2021; Accepted: 12 November 2021

Parental dietary nutrients epigenetically influence offspring metabolism. Our analysis revealed unforeseen patterns in how enzymes of the main metabolic pathways respond to protein content in the diet. We reared parental flies Drosophila melanogaster on four types of diet with different dry yeast concentrations ranging from 0.25% to 15%. The subsequent generation was fed by the same diet, so the only variable in the experiments was the yeast concentration in the parental diet. We showed that protein restriction in the parental diet led to higher lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in parents, and this effect was inherited in their progeny. The transgenerational effect of parental dietary yeast on malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activity was found only in males. An elevated level of dietary yeast was sufficient to enhance alanine transaminase ( ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) activity in parents, however, did not affect ALT activity and decreased AST  in their offspring. A low yeast parental diet was shown to cause higher urea content in F1 males. It is concluded that parental dietary yeast plays a critical role in metabolic health that can be inherited through generation.