Abstract
Mannitol, a sugar alcohol used in commercial food products, has been previously shown to induce sex-biased mortality in female Drosophila melanogaster when ingested at a single concentration (1 M). We hypothesized that sex differences in energy needs, related to reproductive costs, contributed to the increased mortality we observed in females compared to males. To test this, we compared the longevity of actively mating and non-mating flies fed increasing concentrations of mannitol. We also asked whether mannitol-induced mortality was concentration-dependent for both males and females, and if mannitol’s sex-biased effects were consistent across concentrations. Females and males both showed concentration-dependent increases in mortality, but female mortality was consistently higher at concentrations of 0.75 M and above. Additionally, fly longevity decreased further for both sexes when housed in mixed sex vials as compared to single sex vials. This suggests that the increased energetic demands of mating and reproduction for both sexes increased the ingestion of mannitol. Finally, larvae raised on mannitol produced expected adult sex ratios, suggesting that sex-biased mortality due to the ingestion of mannitol occurs only in adults. We conclude that sex and reproductive status differences in mannitol ingestion drive sex-biased differences in adult fly mortality.
Highlights
D-mannitol is a 6-carbon polyol produced via microbial fermentation, by yeasts, and is the most common naturally-occurring polyol in plants and fungi [1,2,3,4]
Sex-specific mortality of mannitol on Drosophila melanogaster recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation
Female flies fed a 5% mannitol diet consumed more media per hour than male flies fed mannitol (S2 Fig; n = 30 flies/sex, Sidak’s MCT; p = 0.0035), confirming differences in food consumption between the sexes reported in the literature [13,14]
Summary
D-mannitol ( mannitol) is a 6-carbon polyol produced via microbial fermentation, by yeasts, and is the most common naturally-occurring polyol in plants and fungi [1,2,3,4]. Mannitol is commonly used as a sweet additive in consumer products as it is only partially absorbed in the human small intestine without increasing insulin secretion or blood glucose [1,5]. Mannitol produces a variety of gastrointestinal, reproductive, and survival effects when fed to other organisms [2,6,7]. Mannitol reduced survival and prevented adult female. Sex-specific mortality of mannitol on Drosophila melanogaster recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation
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