Journal article
Milk-whey diet substantially suppresses seizure-like phenotypes of paraShu, a Drosophila voltage-gated sodium channel mutant
Journal of neurogenetics, Vol.33(3), pp.164-178
07/03/2019
DOI: 10.1080/01677063.2019.1597082
PMCID: PMC6641994
PMID: 31096839
Abstract
The Drosophila mutant para
Shu
harbors a dominant, gain-of-function allele of the voltage-gated sodium channel gene, paralytic (para). The mutant flies display severe seizure-like phenotypes, including neuronal hyperexcitability, spontaneous spasms, ether-induced leg shaking, and heat-induced convulsions. We unexpectedly found that two distinct food recipes used routinely in the Drosophila research community result in a striking difference in severity of the para
Shu
phenotypes. Namely, when para
Shu
mutants were raised on the diet originally formulated by Edward Lewis in 1960, they showed severe neurological defects as previously reported. In contrast, when they were raised on the diet developed by Frankel and Brousseau in 1968, these phenotypes were substantially suppressed. Comparison of the effects of these two well-established food recipes revealed that the diet-dependent phenotypic suppression is accounted for by milk whey, which is present only in the latter. Inclusion of milk whey in the diet during larval stages was critical for suppression of the adult para
Shu
phenotypes, suggesting that this dietary modification affects development of the nervous system. We also found that milk whey has selective effects on other neurological mutants. Among the behavioral phenotypes of different para mutant alleles, those of para
GEFS+
and para
bss
were suppressed by milk whey, while those of para
DS
and para
ts1
were not significantly affected. Overall, our study demonstrates that different diets routinely used in Drosophila labs could have considerably different effects on neurological phenotypes of Drosophila mutants. This finding provides a solid foundation for further investigation into how dietary modifications affect development and function of the nervous system and, ultimately, how they influence behavior.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Milk-whey diet substantially suppresses seizure-like phenotypes of paraShu, a Drosophila voltage-gated sodium channel mutant
- Creators
- Junko Kasuya - Department of Anesthesia, Carver College of Medicine, University of IowaAtulya Iyengar - Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of IowaHung-Lin Chen - Department of Medical Research, Tung's Taichung MetroHarbor HospitalPatrick Lansdon - Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, University of IowaChun-Fang Wu - Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, University of IowaToshihiro Kitamoto - Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of neurogenetics, Vol.33(3), pp.164-178
- DOI
- 10.1080/01677063.2019.1597082
- PMID
- 31096839
- PMCID
- PMC6641994
- NLM abbreviation
- J Neurogenet
- ISSN
- 0167-7063
- eISSN
- 1563-5260
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Grant note
- 01 / NIH NRSA Individual Predoctoral Fellowship Carver Charitable Trust Collaborative Pilot Grant 49 / NIH Training Grant Fellowship 81; 41 / NIH grants University of Iowa Institute for Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/03/2019
- Academic Unit
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology; Anesthesia; Neuroscience and Pharmacology
- Record Identifier
- 9984007295802771
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