Evolutionary conflict over animal nutrition and diet choice
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Biological Sciences
Abstract
Recent advances in animal nutrition research have produced remarkable findings. Across many species, it is not only the amount of food eaten but also the protein and carbohydrate content of that food that influences health. In particular, diets that are relatively high in protein and low in carbohydrate diets enhance reproduction, whereas low protein and high carbohydrate diets prolong life. These results often lead to a picture of an ideal diet composition that maximizes a species' reproduction and another diet composition that maximizes lifespan, a result of keen interest for human health.
However, our current understanding of the ideal diet is limited to overly simplified laboratory conditions. This is a problem because the diet compositions that maximize reproduction and lifespan in benign and stable conditions might not translate to the complex environments that all organisms, including humans, experience in the real world. In particular, an animal's mating frequency might strongly affect its nutritional needs, because increased mating frequency is associated with increased reproduction and lifespan in many species. We currently know little about how nutritional preferences and optima shift in response to mating, or about how individuals can achieve their dietary optima despite conflicts of interest over nutrition with their mates and family members.
The goal of my research is to address this gap by bringing an evolutionary perspective to nutritional ecology. I aim to discover how the diets that maximize health, lifespan and reproduction vary with the ecological and social settings that animals experience. I will use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, an experimentally tractable animal that shares most of its nutritional physiology with vertebrates - including humans - to enable me to directly test nutritional hypotheses in experiments that are not feasible with human subjects. With this research I will focus on three questions: how diets that maximize lifespan and reproduction change with mating frequency; to what extent evolutionary conflicts of interest - for example, when mothers have different optimal diets from their offspring - shapes dietary preferences; and by what mechanisms might males influence the nutritional preferences of their mates. This work has the potential to contribute to our basic understanding of animal adaptation and to the potential for improving the health, lifespan or reproductive capacity of humans and other animals.
However, our current understanding of the ideal diet is limited to overly simplified laboratory conditions. This is a problem because the diet compositions that maximize reproduction and lifespan in benign and stable conditions might not translate to the complex environments that all organisms, including humans, experience in the real world. In particular, an animal's mating frequency might strongly affect its nutritional needs, because increased mating frequency is associated with increased reproduction and lifespan in many species. We currently know little about how nutritional preferences and optima shift in response to mating, or about how individuals can achieve their dietary optima despite conflicts of interest over nutrition with their mates and family members.
The goal of my research is to address this gap by bringing an evolutionary perspective to nutritional ecology. I aim to discover how the diets that maximize health, lifespan and reproduction vary with the ecological and social settings that animals experience. I will use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, an experimentally tractable animal that shares most of its nutritional physiology with vertebrates - including humans - to enable me to directly test nutritional hypotheses in experiments that are not feasible with human subjects. With this research I will focus on three questions: how diets that maximize lifespan and reproduction change with mating frequency; to what extent evolutionary conflicts of interest - for example, when mothers have different optimal diets from their offspring - shapes dietary preferences; and by what mechanisms might males influence the nutritional preferences of their mates. This work has the potential to contribute to our basic understanding of animal adaptation and to the potential for improving the health, lifespan or reproductive capacity of humans and other animals.
Planned Impact
My research will examine nutrition, reproduction, and lifespan, in the context of the mating environment. This is basic science with the long-term potential to contribute to UK quality of life, and economic development through the agri-food, livestock and companion-animal nutrition industries.
Who will benefit from this research?
I have identified three groups who will potentially benefit from my research.
- Managers who design diets for agricultural species, companion animals and species of conservation interest
- Managers who contribute to the nutritional content of diets of human populations
- The UK public
How will they benefit from this research?
Managers in the agri-food, companion animal food, and conservation sectors who design animal diets may benefit from my results. They may be better able to fine-tune diets that support long lifespan and health depending on the sex and mating environment of their animals. The metabolomic component of my research will be of relevance for this purpose and might aid in translating my results to vertebrate species.
Managers in the agri-food industry who influence the nutritional content of human diets in the UK industrial may benefit from my results. They may help the industry produce food that supports health in the UK population (e.g., through balanced macronutrient content) without increasing resource inputs. This is the case even though my results are based on studies in fruit flies, because fruit flies and other animals, including humans, share the same basic metabolic and nutrient processing pathways.
Finally, my work will be of interest to the UK public. Members of the public will benefit from learning about the relationship between behaviour and nutrition. In the long term, this may support individual diet choices for health and well-being throughout life. Members of the public also have a keen interest in health- and nutrition-related research, as well as research on breeding behaviour, as demonstrated by the great frequency of media reports covering studies in these areas. I expect that my results will therefore be of interest to the public, which will foster interest in and support for basic science and its potential applied value.
Who will benefit from this research?
I have identified three groups who will potentially benefit from my research.
- Managers who design diets for agricultural species, companion animals and species of conservation interest
- Managers who contribute to the nutritional content of diets of human populations
- The UK public
How will they benefit from this research?
Managers in the agri-food, companion animal food, and conservation sectors who design animal diets may benefit from my results. They may be better able to fine-tune diets that support long lifespan and health depending on the sex and mating environment of their animals. The metabolomic component of my research will be of relevance for this purpose and might aid in translating my results to vertebrate species.
Managers in the agri-food industry who influence the nutritional content of human diets in the UK industrial may benefit from my results. They may help the industry produce food that supports health in the UK population (e.g., through balanced macronutrient content) without increasing resource inputs. This is the case even though my results are based on studies in fruit flies, because fruit flies and other animals, including humans, share the same basic metabolic and nutrient processing pathways.
Finally, my work will be of interest to the UK public. Members of the public will benefit from learning about the relationship between behaviour and nutrition. In the long term, this may support individual diet choices for health and well-being throughout life. Members of the public also have a keen interest in health- and nutrition-related research, as well as research on breeding behaviour, as demonstrated by the great frequency of media reports covering studies in these areas. I expect that my results will therefore be of interest to the public, which will foster interest in and support for basic science and its potential applied value.
People |
ORCID iD |
Jennifer Perry (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Edmunds D
(2021)
'Hangry' Drosophila: food deprivation increases male aggression.
in Animal behaviour
Edmunds D
(2021)
A resource-poor developmental diet reduces adult aggression in male Drosophila melanogaster.
in Behavioral ecology and sociobiology
Bath E
(2020)
Anxiety-like behaviour is regulated independently from sex, mating status and the sex peptide receptor in Drosophila melanogaster
in Animal Behaviour
Perry JC
(2021)
Escaping the choosiness trap.
in Nature ecology & evolution
Sepil I
(2022)
Experimental evolution under varying sex ratio and nutrient availability modulates male mating success in Drosophila melanogaster.
in Biology letters
Bath E
(2021)
Sex ratio and the evolution of aggression in fruit flies
in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Bath E
(2023)
Sexual selection and the evolution of condition-dependence: an experimental test at two resource levels.
in Evolution; international journal of organic evolution
Hopkins B
(2022)
The evolution of sex peptide: sexual conflict, cooperation, and coevolution
in Biological Reviews
Perry J
(2022)
The Oxford Handbook of Human Mating
Description | Key findings from the award include: - Sensitivity to early life diet evolves in response to the local environment. Our team demonstrated in a controlled laboratory environment using fruit flies, an important model organism for nutritional and evolutionary studies. - Male and female aggressive behaviour evolves in response to the local environment. This finding is especially interesting because in the past it has not been clear whether female aggression benefits females or instead evolves as a byproduct of male aggression. - Male aggressive behaviour responds to the local environment. In particular, males are more aggressive when they are hungry, when they have good early life conditions, and when their opponent is in poor condition. |
Exploitation Route | Some objectives have not yet been realized, so there remains good opportunity to further explore these research questions. |
Sectors | Environment,Other |
Description | Male and female diet choice in response to the socio-sexual environment |
Amount | £85,987 (GBP) |
Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
Department | Aries Doctoral Training Partnership |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2021 |
End | 09/2024 |
Description | Native and invasive ladybirds in a changing U.K. climate |
Amount | £85,987 (GBP) |
Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
Department | Aries Doctoral Training Partnership |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2020 |
End | 03/2024 |
Description | Native and invasive ladybirds in a changing U.K. climate |
Organisation | Royal Horticultural Society |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The Royal Horticultural Society has joined as an Industrial CASE partner to fund an ARIES studentship, co-supervised by Prof Helen Roy from the CEH. |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof Helen Roy from the CEH is a co-supervisor of the PhD project. Dr. Andrew Salisbury from the RHS is a co-supervisor as well. The CEH is providing access to long-term ecological datasets and expertise in analysis, along with student training opportunities. The RHS is providing an internship, access to lab and field resources, and student training opportunities. |
Impact | The collaboration is ongoing |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Native and invasive ladybirds in a changing U.K. climate |
Organisation | UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The Royal Horticultural Society has joined as an Industrial CASE partner to fund an ARIES studentship, co-supervised by Prof Helen Roy from the CEH. |
Collaborator Contribution | Prof Helen Roy from the CEH is a co-supervisor of the PhD project. Dr. Andrew Salisbury from the RHS is a co-supervisor as well. The CEH is providing access to long-term ecological datasets and expertise in analysis, along with student training opportunities. The RHS is providing an internship, access to lab and field resources, and student training opportunities. |
Impact | The collaboration is ongoing |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | The relationship between diet and aggressive behaviour in fruit flies |
Organisation | University of Liverpool |
Department | Institute of Integrative Biology |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I co-supervise PhD student Danielle Edmunds for her research on diet and aggressive behaviour in fruit flies, with a co-supervisor at the University of Oxford. I am the primary supervisor. |
Collaborator Contribution | Co-supervisor Dr. Stuart Wigby (now at University of Liverpool) provides intellectual input and expertise with the study organism. Co-supervisor Prof. Tommaso Pizzari (University of Oxford) provides intellectual input into the project. |
Impact | PhD student Danielle Edmunds is in the fourth and final year of her PhD. She is funded by a BBSRC Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP studentship. She is preparing several manuscripts for publication, along with myself and the collaborative team. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | The relationship between diet and aggressive behaviour in fruit flies |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Department of Zoology |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | I co-supervise PhD student Danielle Edmunds for her research on diet and aggressive behaviour in fruit flies, with a co-supervisor at the University of Oxford. I am the primary supervisor. |
Collaborator Contribution | Co-supervisor Dr. Stuart Wigby (now at University of Liverpool) provides intellectual input and expertise with the study organism. Co-supervisor Prof. Tommaso Pizzari (University of Oxford) provides intellectual input into the project. |
Impact | PhD student Danielle Edmunds is in the fourth and final year of her PhD. She is funded by a BBSRC Interdisciplinary Bioscience DTP studentship. She is preparing several manuscripts for publication, along with myself and the collaborative team. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | The role of olfaction in mediating social behaviour in fruit flies |
Organisation | University of Valencia |
Country | Spain |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have initiated a project to study how olfaction mediates social behaviour in fruit flies. A PhD student that I supervise (Danielle Edmunds) spent 2 months in our collaborator's laboratory at the University of Valencia to conduct the relevant experiments under the collaborator's supervision. The student is funded by a BBSRC Interdisciplinary Bioscience studentship. |
Collaborator Contribution | Collaborator Dr. Pau Carazo (University of Valencia) supervised my PhD student's experiments for two months and provided consumables and technician support. |
Impact | The research team is preparing a manuscript based on the work. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Pint of Science Norwich virtual science festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | I participated in Norwich's 'Pint of Science' virtual science festival by tweeting 4 dedicated threads about different lines of research in my group. The tweets were seen by 21,093 people and received 503 'engagements' (replies, likes, and retweets). Questions from non-scientist twitter users led to follow-up discussion. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://pintofscience.co.uk/events/norwich |
Description | Press release and media interviews associated with publication of Edmunds, Wigby and Perry (2021) Animal Behaviour |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | My institution developed a press release for my publication Edmunds, Wigby and Perry (2021) in Animal Behaviour. The paper received broad coverage and resulted in a televised interview with Edmunds (my PhD student) on BBC Breakfast. It generated more than 350 media items, including coverage in The Independent, The Sunday Times, the Daily Express, MailOnline, Sky News, New Scientist and Daily Telegraph. There was both national and international media attention. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |