Title:
A comprehensive investigation of the cross-talk between larval and adult nutrition in modulating adult life history, behaviour, physiology, and disease susceptibility in Drosophila melanogaster.
Abstract:
Nutrition plays a pivotal role in shaping organismal life history traits such as growth, development, reproduction, lifespan etc. Availability and quality of macronutrients can have a significant impact on these traits, altering an organism's ability to survive and reproduce in its environment. Earlier studies showed specific macronutrient ratio in the diet can influence traits differentially. But, how these traits are differentially affected by pre-adult and adult nutrition is not yet understood. To address this question, I am using the large outbred population of Drosophila melanogaster having two actively feeding stages (i.e., larva and adult) and I investigate the effects of dietary manipulation on adult fitness traits under four nutritional regimes consisting of protein-rich (P) and carbohydrate-rich (C) isocaloric diets in a full factorial design, for the larval and adult stages respectively. The adult fitness traits were measured by manipulating diet in both single generation and using experimental evolution paradigm.
About the speaker:
Chandrakanth M is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Dr. Sudipta Tung’s lab at the Department of Biology, Ashoka University. His primary research interest lies in understanding species adaptation under different environmental conditions. Currently, he is exploring the effects of different nutrition on life-history, behaviour and stress related aspects in Drosophila. Before joining Ashoka, he completed his Master’s degree in Biotechnology from Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi.