Abstract
Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide that serves as the main sugar component of haemolymph in insects. Trehalose hydrolysis enzyme, called trehalase, is highly conserved from bacteria to humans. However, our understanding of the physiological role of trehalase remains incomplete. Here, we analyze the phenotypes of several Trehalase (Treh) loss-of-function alleles in a comparative manner in Drosophila. The previously reported mutant phenotype of Treh affecting neuroepithelial stem cell maintenance and differentiation in the optic lobe is caused by second-site alleles in addition to Treh. We further report that the survival rate of Treh null mutants is significantly influenced by dietary conditions. Treh mutant larvae are lethal not only on a low-sugar diet but also under low-protein diet conditions. A reduction in adaptation ability under poor food conditions in Treh mutants is mainly caused by the overaccumulation of trehalose rather than the loss of Treh, because the additional loss of Tps1 mitigates the lethal effect of Treh mutants. These results demonstrate that proper trehalose metabolism plays a critical role in adaptation under various environmental conditions.
Highlights
Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide that serves as the main sugar component of haemolymph in insects
In addition to dietary sugar, we found that reducing the yeast content in food significantly lowered the survival rate of Treh mutants (Fig. 4A,B)
The supplementation of a protein source substantially rescued the survival rate of Treh mutants (Fig. 4A). These results suggest that dietary conditions significantly affect the survival rate of Treh mutants
Summary
Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide that serves as the main sugar component of haemolymph in insects. A reduction in adaptation ability under poor food conditions in Treh mutants is mainly caused by the overaccumulation of trehalose rather than the loss of Treh, because the additional loss of Tps[1] mitigates the lethal effect of Treh mutants. These results demonstrate that proper trehalose metabolism plays a critical role in adaptation under various environmental conditions. The local breakdown of trehalose and the following glycolysis in glia produces alanine and lactate These C3 compounds are further metabolized in neurons, which is essential for neuronal survival[10]. TALEN-induced null alleles of Treh are www.nature.com/scientificreports/
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