DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6hdr7sr9h
title: Data from: Context-dependent effects of developmental and adult diet on life-history traits in Drosophila melanogaster

description: Life-history traits such as body size, reproduction, survival, and stress
 resistance are fundamental to an organism's fitness and are highly
 influenced by nutritional environments across life stages. In this study,
 we employed a full factorial experimental design to investigate the
 effects of isocaloric diets (diets with equal caloric content but
 differing macronutrient composition) on key life-history traits in an
 outbred Drosophila melanogaster population. Our results demonstrated
 significant diet-induced plasticity, with male wing length (a proxy for
 body size) being influenced by the developmental diet; males reared on
 carbohydrate-rich developmental diets had larger wings as adults.
 Fertility increased with protein-rich diets at both developmental and
 adult stages, reaffirming the critical role of dietary protein in
 enhancing reproductive success. Lifespan exhibited sexually dimorphic
 responses to diet: carbohydrate-rich developmental diets extended male
 lifespan, while carbohydrate-rich adult diets reduced lifespan in both
 sexes. Stress resistance traits, including starvation and desiccation
 resistance, were unaffected by developmental diets but were influenced by
 adult diets, with carbohydrate-rich adult diets enhancing survival under
 both stress conditions in males and females. Importantly, while most
 traits exhibited additive effects of nutrition across life stages, a
 marginal interaction for male starvation resistance suggests that
 developmental and adult diets can interact in a trait- and sex-specific
 manner. Moreover, associations between dietary effects on life-history
 traits were context-dependent, driven primarily by adult diets and varying
 by sex. These findings emphasize the profound role of stage-specific
 nutritional environments in modulating life-history traits and their
 correlations, offering valuable insights into how organisms may adapt to
 changing ecological conditions and highlighting the importance of
 considering both developmental and adult dietary contexts in evolutionary
 studies.
description: # **Context-dependent effects of developmental and adult diet on
 life-history traits in Drosophila melanogaster** #### Authors and Contact
 Information 1. #### **Mohankumar Chandrakanth** –
 *[Chandrakanth.m_phd21@ashoka.edu.in](mailto:Chandrakanth.m_phd21@ashoka.edu.in)* 2. **Nishant Kumar** – *[nishant.kumar@ashoka.edu.in](mailto:nishant.kumar@ashoka.edu.in)* 3. **Chand Sura** – *[chand@ashoka.edu.in](mailto:chand@ashoka.edu.in)* 4. **Sudipta Tung** – *[sudipta.tung@ashoka.edu.in](mailto:sudipta.tung@ashoka.edu.in)* #### Study Summary This dataset accompanies our study examining how stage-specific, isocaloric dietary compositions affect key life-history traits in *Drosophila melanogaster*. By altering the macronutrient composition (protein: carbohydrate ratio) during larval and adult stages, we assess how mismatches between developmental and adult nutrition influence traits such as body size, fertility, longevity, starvation resistance, and desiccation resistance. #### Dataset Structure The dataset is organized into several CSV files and one ZIP archive, each corresponding to data underlying a specific figure in the manuscript. Each data file contains cleaned, raw values ready for analysis or reanalysis. ### Files Included | File Name | Description | Corresponding Figure | | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | | `Winglength.csv` | Measurements of wing length (proxy for body size) across diet treatments. | Figure 1 | | `Fertility.csv` | Fertility (offspring count) across treatments and time points. | Figure 2 | | `Survival_Longevity.csv` | Lifespan (in days) under different dietary treatments. | Figure 3 | | `Survival_Starvation.csv` | Time to death under starvation conditions. | Figure 4 | | `Survival_Desiccation.csv` | Time to death under desiccation (dry) conditions. | Figure 5 | | `images_for_winglength.zip` | Original images used for generating wing length data. | Supporting Figure 1 | #### Variable Descriptions Below is a general description of common variables found in the datasets: * `Larval_food`Diet during larval stage (e.g., "Carbohydrate-rich", "Protein-rich") * `Adult_food`Diet during adult stage (e.g., "Carbohydrate-rich", "Protein-rich") * `Sex`Sex of the fly ("Male", "Female") * `Vial`Biological replicate number * `Wing_length_(mm)`Length of the fly wing (in mm) * `Fertility`Number of offspring produced * `Alive`Duration (in hours or days) for which the flies remained alive (dataset-dependent) * `Death`Time point (in hours or days) at which death occurred (dataset-dependent) * `Status`: Survival status indicator (0 = censored; 1 = event occurred/death) * **Note:** Variable names may vary slightly between datasets. Please refer to the header row in each CSV file for exact labels. Data in this upload are organized based on the figure they appear in, in the publication: doi: [https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voaf091.](https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voaf091) Usage Notes * All data were collected under controlled laboratory conditions using standardized protocols. * CSV files are UTF-8 encoded and compatible with most data analysis software. * Wing length was measured using ImageJ from the raw images provided in the ZIP archive consisting of 4 folders (CC, CP, PC, and PP) based on diet regimes where C represents carbohydrates and P represents protein.