DOI: 10.5061/dryad.fqz612k37
title: Effects of sleep deprivation on susceptibility to parasitic infection

description: We investigate the role of sleep deprivation on Drosophila
 nigrospiracula susceptibility to parasitic infections by the ectoparasitic
 mite, Macrocheles subbadius. We tested the hypothesis that sleep
 deprivation reduces behavioural resistance against mites, resulting in
 higher rates of infection among sleep deprived (SD) flies compared to
 non-sleep deprived flies, and that this is mediated by lower endurance (in
 negative geotaxis assays) among SD flies. We tested the impact of sleep
 deprivation on susceptibility to infection and climbing endurance in two
 age groups, flies 14 and 21 days post-eclosion. 
description: In the first experiment, flies from two age classes (14 and 21
 days old) were subject to sleep deprivation during a 12 hr night period
 and then tested for susceptibility to infection. Control flies were left
 undisturbed for the night. For a given age class, five flies from each of
 treatment group were placed inside an infection chamber containing mites
 and left for 2 hours. Flies were then removed from the chamber and
 assessed for mite infection and number of mites. In a second experiment,
 flies were again subject to sleep deprivation or left undisturbed for a
 period of 12 hrs. Flies were then transferred to vials for negative
 geotaxis assays. Flies were placed inside a vial with a line located 5 cm
 from the base, once the fly climbed up to the line the vial was tapped to
 knock the fly down to the bottom. We measured climbing endurance as the
 number of times (cycles) and total duration a fly spent
 climbing. 
description: # Effects of sleep deprivation on susceptibility to parasitic infection
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fqz612k37](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fqz612k37) ## Description of the data and file structure **Infection data:** Flies from two age class (14 and 21 days old) were subject to sleep deprivation for 12 hours; control flies were left undisturbed. After 12 hrs, 5 flies from each treatment group (sleep deprived and control) were placed inside infection chambers (jars) containing ectoparasitic mites. After 2 hours, flies were removed and the number of mites on the flies was recorded. The experimented was replicated over time (blocks). Infection status was recorded as yes(1) or no(0) and "mites" = the number of mites on an infected fly. **Endurance data:** 21-days old flies from were subject to sleep deprivation for 12 hours; control flies were left undisturbed. After 12 hrs, flies were transferred transferred to individual vials with a line marked at 5 cm from the bottom of the vial. In most cases flies immediately began to climb the vial (negative geotaxis). Once a fly reach the line the vials was gently tapped so the fly would drop to the bottom. We recorded the number of times (freq) the flies climbed until it reached exhaustion (could not be induced to climb anymore) and the total duration of time climbing (time - seconds). The assay was performed over several days (day) by two people (observers). ### Files and variables #### File: Infection\_data.csv **Description:**  Assay for susceptibility to infection by ectoparasitic mites ##### Variables * date: November 2023 - March 2024 * block: date of assay * jar: infection chamber * flyID: fly identity * age: fly age (14 or 21 days old) * trtmt: flies were either sleep deprived or undisturbed (control) * infection: infected or uninfected * mites: number of mites on a fly #### File: Endurance\_data.csv **Description:** Test of climbing endurance using a negative geotaxis assay ##### Variables * day: day on which assay was performed * block: letter assigned to each replicate day * observer: assay was performed by two individuals * trtmt: flies were either sleep deprived or undisturbed (control) * freq: number of times (cycles) a fly climbed to the top of the vial before exhaustion * time: total duration of time climbing (seconds) until exhaustion ## Code/software Data was analyzed in RStudio Version 2024.04.2+764