W.C. Aw1, M. R. Garvin2 and J. W. O. Ballard1
1School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, The University of New South Wales,
Sydney, Australia
2Fisheries Division, School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Juneau, AK, USA
The aim of the study is to identify the influence of diet and mtDNA haplotype on sexual conflict in strains of Drosophila melanogaster harbouring the same genetic background. Here we focus on sexual conflict conferred by mitochondria as a result of the organelle’s maternal mode of inheritance in the majority of metazoans. We hypothesise that changes in diet could be an important factor that affects sexual conflict between males and females. We fed female and male flies one of four diets that differed in their protein: carbohydrate ratios and tested the sexual conflict by examining five organismal (fecundity, longevity, starvation resistant, lipid proportions and paraquat resistance) and four cellular traits (mitochondrial respiration, ROS production, SOD activity and mtDNA copy number). Traits were assayed at 11d and 25d of age. Here, we show that female physiological traits are more susceptible to dietary changes than males suggesting that diet mediates the change in the degree of sexual conflict. We also found that flies harbouring different mtDNA haplotypes have haplotype specific life-history traits. Finally, we reveal sex specific differences in mitochondrial and biochemical functions and suggest these may be associated with sex-specific differences in ageing.