Insulin signalling regulates remating in female Drosophila

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Wigby, Stuart, Slack, Cathy, Grönke, Sebastian, Martinez, Pedro, Calboli, Federico C. F., Chapman, Tracey ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2401-8120 and Partridge, Linda (2011) Insulin signalling regulates remating in female Drosophila. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278 (1704). pp. 424-431. ISSN 0962-8452

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Abstract

Mating rate is a major determinant of female lifespan and fitness, and is predicted to optimize at an intermediate level, beyond which superfluous matings are costly. In female Drosophila melanogaster, nutrition is a key regulator of mating rate but the underlying mechanism is unknown. The evolutionarily conserved insulin/insulin-like growth factor-like signalling (IIS) pathway is responsive to nutrition, and regulates development, metabolism, stress resistance, fecundity and lifespan. Here we show that inhibition of IIS, by ablation of Drosophila insulin-like peptide (DILP)-producing median neurosecretory cells, knockout of dilp2, dilp3 or dilp5 genes, expression of a dominant-negative DILP-receptor (InR) transgene or knockout of Lnk, results in reduced female remating rates. IIS-mediated regulation of female remating can occur independent of virgin receptivity, developmental defects, reduced body size or fecundity, and the receipt of the female receptivity-inhibiting male sex peptide. Our results provide a likely mechanism by which females match remating rates to the perceived nutritional environment. The findings suggest that longevity-mediating genes could often have pleiotropic effects on remating rate. However, overexpression of the IIS-regulated transcription factor dFOXO in the fat body—which extends lifespan—does not affect remating rate. Thus, long life and reduced remating are not obligatorily coupled.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Depositing User: Users 2731 not found.
Date Deposited: 15 Aug 2011 10:36
Last Modified: 18 Jun 2026 14:49
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/34530
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1390

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