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Metabolic profiling of Drosophila melanogaster metamorphosis: a new insight into the central metabolic pathways

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Abstract

Introduction

Metamorphosis is a complicated process in which cell proliferation, differentiation, and death are orchestrated to form the mature structures of insects. In Drosophila, this process is controlled by ecdysone, a steroid hormone responsible for tissue remodeling and organogenesis that gives rise to the adult fly.

Objective

By using a metabolomics approach, this study aimed to elucidate global changes in the central metabolic pathways in Drosophila throughout metamorphosis and then further examine the effects of temperature and origin on metabolic profiles.

Methods

Targeted and non-targeted metabolic profiling of time-course samples from Drosophila were constructed to cover a wide range of cellular metabolites during metamorphosis.

Results

This was the first wide-scale metabolomics study of Drosophila metamorphosis focusing on central metabolism. The abundance of detected metabolites changed drastically and correlated strongly with the development of Drosophila pupae. In non-stress conditions, temperature affected the developmental time, but the metabolic state at a certain stage of metamorphosis remained stable. Between D. melanogaster Canton S and Oregon R, similar metabolic profiles throughout metamorphosis was observed. However, there were still differences in purine and pyrimidine metabolism at an early stage in the pupal period, which was matched by differences in ecdysteroid levels.

Conclusion

This study supported the strength of metabolomics in the field of developmental biology. The results provided a general view on the metabolic profile of Drosophila during metamorphosis, which provides basic 3 knowledge for future metabolomics studies using Drosophila.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Bloomington Stock Center and Prof. Mi-Ae Yoo for fly stocks. This study was partially supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Core-to-Core Program, B. Asia-Africa Science Platforms. Phan Nguyen Thuy An is supported financially by The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. This study represents a portion of the dissertation submitted by Phan Nguyen Thuy An to Osaka University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for her Ph.D.

Author contributions

P.N.T.A., M.Y., and E.F. conceived, designed and analyzed the experiments. P.N.T.A. and M.Y. performed the experiments. P.N.T.A. wrote the paper. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Funding

This study is partially supported by Grants-in-Aid from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Core-to-Core Program, B. Asia-Africa Science Platforms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Phan Nguyen Thuy An & Eiichiro Fukusaki

  2. Department of Applied Biology, Insect Biomedical Research Center, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto, Japan

    Masamitsu Yamaguchi

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  1. Phan Nguyen Thuy An
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Correspondence to Eiichiro Fukusaki.

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An, P.N.T., Yamaguchi, M. & Fukusaki, E. Metabolic profiling of Drosophila melanogaster metamorphosis: a new insight into the central metabolic pathways. Metabolomics 13, 29 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-017-1167-1

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