Poster Presentation ANZOS-Breakthrough Discoveries Joint Annual Scientific Meeting 2018

The transgenerational effects of obesogenic diets. (#207)

Tara-Lyn Carter 1 , Damian Dowling 1 , Matthew Piper 1 , Rebecca Robker 1
  1. Monash University, Carnegie, VIC, Australia

Obesity appears to be a perpetuating cycle across generations. In humans, parental obesity is associated with obesity in children for a plethora of reasons. Beyond environmental factors such as child’s diet, there are also maternally mediated effects such as metabolic imprinting. Studies conducted across a variety of taxa suggest parental diet of both mothers and fathers prior to conception can have an effect on the phenotype of the resultant offspring. However, very few studies have tested the transgenerational nature of these dietary effects in both parents using a fully factorial design. Our study manipulates the sucrose content of Drosophila melanogaster diets across three generations (to the F2 generation), and measures the effects of a high sugar diet across a range of phenotypic traits. Virgin flies are placed onto two diet treatments, either high or low sucrose (with all other ingredients kept constant), for four days before being allowed to mate. Initial results of our study indicate that parental diet has a significant effect on both the parental and offspring phenotypes. In particular, a diet high in sugar reduces fecundity, increases eclosion time, and alters offspring body composition. With the obesity epidemic increasing worldwide, studies such as ours that elucidate the transgenerational effects of obesogenic diets provide valuable insight into the complexities of curbing obesity.

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