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Objectives: The mitochondrial enzyme L-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase (L2HGDH) regulates the abundance of L-2-hydroxyglutarate (L-2HG), a potent signaling metabolite capable of influencing chromatin architecture, mitochondrial metabolism, and cell fate decisions. Loss of L2hgdh activity in humans induces ectopic L-2HG accumulation, resulting in neurodevelopmental defects, altered immune cell function, and enhanced growth of clear cell renal cell carcinomas. To better understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie these disease pathologies, we used the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the endogenous functions of L2hgdh., Methods: L2hgdh mutant adult male flies were analyzed under normoxic and hypoxic conditions using a combination of semi-targeted metabolomics and RNA-seq. These multi-omic analyses were complemented by tissue-specific genetic studies that examined the effects of L2hgdh mutations on the Drosophila renal system (Malpighian tubules; MTs)., Results: Our studies revealed that while L2hgdh is not essential for growth or viability under standard culture conditions, L2hgdh mutants are hypersensitive to hypoxia and expire during the reoxygenation phase with severe disruptions of mitochondrial metabolism. Moreover, we find that the fly renal system is a key site of L2hgdh activity, as L2hgdh mutants that express a rescuing transgene within the MTs survive hypoxia treatment and exhibit normal levels of mitochondrial metabolites. We also demonstrate that even under normoxic conditions, L2hgdh mutant MTs experience significant metabolic stress and are sensitized to aberrant growth upon Egfr activation., Conclusions: These findings present a model in which renal L2hgdh activity limits systemic L-2HG accumulation, thus indirectly regulating the balance between glycolytic and mitochondrial metabolism, enabling successful recovery from hypoxia exposure, and ensuring renal tissue integrity., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.)

The Estrogen-Related Receptor (ERR) family of nuclear receptors (NRs) serve key roles in coordinating triglyceride (TAG) accumulation with juvenile growth and development. In both insects and mammals, ERR activity promotes TAG storage during the post-embryonic growth phase, with loss-of-function mutations in mouse Esrra and Drosophila melanogaster dERR inducing a lean phenotype. However, the role of insect ERRs in controlling TAG accumulation within adipose tissue remains poorly understood, as previous transcriptomic and metabolomic studies relied on whole animal analyses. Here we address this shortcoming by using tissue-specific approaches to examine the role of dERR in regulating lipid metabolism within the Drosophila larval fat body. We find that dERR autonomously promotes TAG accumulation within fat body cells and regulates expression of genes involved in glycolysis, β-oxidation, and mevalonate metabolism. As an extension of these results, we not only discovered that dERR mutant fat bodies exhibit decreased expression of known dHNF4 target genes but also found that dHNF4 activity is decreased in dERR mutants. Overall, our findings indicate that dERR plays a multifaceted role in the larval fat body to coordinate lipid storage with developmental growth and hint at a conserved mechanism by which ERR and HNF4 homologs coordinately regulate metabolic gene expression.

Metabolic syndrome is increasing worldwide, particularly in rural communities, where residents have a higher risk of exposure to pesticides. We investigated whether six commonly used agricultural pesticides on corn and soy fields possess adipogenic and metabolic disruption activity. Exposure to two of these pesticides, the herbicides acetochlor and metolachlor, induced adipogenesis in vitro in mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The most potent compound, acetochlor, was selected for further studies in zebrafish. Acetochlor exposure induced morphological malformations and lethality in zebrafish larvae with an EC50 of 7.8 µM and LC50 of 12 µM. Acetochlor exposure at 10 nM resulted in lipid accumulation in zebrafish larvae when simultaneously fed a high cholesterol diet. To decipher the molecular mechanisms behind acetochlor action, we preformed transcriptomic and lipidomic analysis of exposed animals. The combined omics results suggested that acetochlor exposure increased Nrf2 activity in response to reactive oxygen species, as well as induced lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis. We further discovered that acetochlor structurally shares a chloroacetamide group with known inhibitors of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). Computational docking analysis suggested that acetochlor covalently binds to the active site of GPX4. Consistent with this prediction, Gpx activity was efficiently repressed by acetochlor in zebrafish, whereas lipid peroxidation was increased. We propose that acetochlor disrupts lipid homeostasis by inhibiting Gpx activity, resulting in accumulation of lipid peroxidation, 4-hydroxynonenal, and reactive oxygen species, which in turn activate Nrf2. Because metolachlor, among other acetanilide herbicides, also contain the chloroacetamide group, inhibition of Gpx activity may represent a novel, common molecular initiating event of metabolic disruption., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The field of developmental metabolism is experiencing a technological revolution that is opening entirely new fields of inquiry. Advances in metabolomics, small-molecule sensors, single-cell RNA sequencing and computational modeling present new opportunities for exploring cell-specific and tissue-specific metabolic networks, interorgan metabolic communication, and gene-by-metabolite interactions in time and space. Together, these advances not only present a means by which developmental biologists can tackle questions that have challenged the field for centuries, but also present young scientists with opportunities to define new areas of inquiry. These emerging frontiers of developmental metabolism were at the center of a highly interactive 2023 EMBO workshop 'Developmental metabolism: flows of energy, matter, and information'. Here, we summarize key discussions from this forum, emphasizing modern developmental biology's challenges and opportunities., (© 2024. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Drosophila larval growth requires efficient conversion of dietary nutrients into biomass. Lactate Dehydrogenase (Ldh) and Glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Gpdh1) support larval biosynthetic metabolism by maintaining NAD + /NADH redox balance and promoting glycolytic flux. Consistent with the cooperative functions of Ldh and Gpdh1, the loss of both enzymes, but neither single enzyme, induces a developmental arrest. However, Ldh and Gpdh1 exhibit complex and often mutually exclusive expression patterns, suggesting that the Gpdh1; Ldh double mutant lethal phenotype could be mediated nonautonomously. Here we find that the developmental arrest displayed by the double mutants extends beyond simple metabolic disruption and instead stems, in part, from changes in systemic growth factor signaling. Specifically, we demonstrate that this synthetic lethality is linked to the upregulation of Upd3, a cytokine involved in the Jak/Stat signaling pathway. Moreover, we demonstrate that either loss of the Upd3 or dietary administration of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) rescue the synthetic lethal phenotype of Gpdh1; Ldh double mutants. Together, these findings demonstrate that metabolic disruptions within a single tissue can nonautonomously modulate interorgan signaling to ensure synchronous developmental growth., Competing Interests: COMPETING INTERESTS No competing interests declared

Tumor cells are known to undergo considerable metabolic reprogramming to meet their unique demands and drive tumor growth. At the same time, this reprogramming may come at a cost with resultant metabolic vulnerabilities. The small molecule l-2-hydroxyglutarate (l-2HG) is elevated in the most common histology of renal cancer. Similarly to other oncometabolites, l-2HG has the potential to profoundly impact gene expression. Here, we demonstrate that l-2HG remodels amino acid metabolism in renal cancer cells through combined effects on histone methylation and RNA N6-methyladenosine. The combined effects of l-2HG result in a metabolic liability that renders tumors cells reliant on exogenous serine to support proliferation, redox homeostasis, and tumor growth. In concert with these data, high-l-2HG kidney cancers demonstrate reduced expression of multiple serine biosynthetic enzymes. Collectively, our data indicate that high-l-2HG renal tumors could be specifically targeted by strategies that limit serine availability to tumors.

Background: Bioenergetic maladaptations and axonopathy are often found in the early stages of neurodegeneration. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), an essential cofactor for energy metabolism, is mainly synthesized by Nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyl transferase 2 (NMNAT2) in CNS neurons. NMNAT2 mRNA levels are reduced in the brains of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease. Here we addressed whether NMNAT2 is required for axonal health of cortical glutamatergic neurons, whose long-projecting axons are often vulnerable in neurodegenerative conditions. We also tested if NMNAT2 maintains axonal health by ensuring axonal ATP levels for axonal transport, critical for axonal function., Methods: We generated mouse and cultured neuron models to determine the impact of NMNAT2 loss from cortical glutamatergic neurons on axonal transport, energetic metabolism, and morphological integrity. In addition, we determined if exogenous NAD supplementation or inhibiting a NAD hydrolase, sterile alpha and TIR motif-containing protein 1 (SARM1), prevented axonal deficits caused by NMNAT2 loss. This study used a combination of techniques, including genetics, molecular biology, immunohistochemistry, biochemistry, fluorescent time-lapse imaging, live imaging with optical sensors, and anti-sense oligos., Results: We provide in vivo evidence that NMNAT2 in glutamatergic neurons is required for axonal survival. Using in vivo and in vitro studies, we demonstrate that NMNAT2 maintains the NAD-redox potential to provide "on-board" ATP via glycolysis to vesicular cargos in distal axons. Exogenous NAD + supplementation to NMNAT2 KO neurons restores glycolysis and resumes fast axonal transport. Finally, we demonstrate both in vitro and in vivo that reducing the activity of SARM1, an NAD degradation enzyme, can reduce axonal transport deficits and suppress axon degeneration in NMNAT2 KO neurons., Conclusion: NMNAT2 ensures axonal health by maintaining NAD redox potential in distal axons to ensure efficient vesicular glycolysis required for fast axonal transport., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The ease of genetic manipulation in Drosophila melanogaster using the Gal4/UAS system has been beneficial in addressing key biological questions. Current modifications of this methodology to temporally induce transgene expression require temperature changes or exposure to exogenous compounds, both of which have been shown to have detrimental effects on physiological processes. The recently described auxin-inducible gene expression system (AGES) utilizes the plant hormone auxin to induce transgene expression and is proposed to be the least toxic compound for genetic manipulation, with no obvious effects on Drosophila development and survival in one wild-type strain. Here, we show that auxin delays larval development in another widely used fly strain, and that short- and long-term auxin exposure in adult Drosophila induces observable changes in physiology and feeding behavior. We further reveal a dosage response to adult survival upon auxin exposure, and that the recommended auxin concentration for AGES alters feeding activity. Furthermore, auxin-fed male and female flies exhibit a significant decrease in triglyceride levels and display altered transcription of fatty acid metabolism genes. Although fatty acid metabolism is disrupted, auxin does not significantly impact adult female fecundity or progeny survival, suggesting AGES may be an ideal methodology for studying limited biological processes. These results emphasize that experiments using temporal binary systems must be carefully designed and controlled to avoid confounding effects and misinterpretation of results., Competing Interests: SF, PB, ED, RK, RE, TN, AD, JT, ER, LW No competing interests declared, (© 2023, Fleck et al.)

Drosophila melanogaster larval development relies on a specialized metabolic state that utilizes carbohydrates and other dietary nutrients to promote rapid growth. One unique feature of the larval metabolic program is that Lactate Dehydrogenase (Ldh) activity is highly elevated during this growth phase when compared to other stages of the fly life cycle, indicating that Ldh serves a key role in promoting juvenile development. Previous studies of larval Ldh activity have largely focused on the function of this enzyme at the whole animal level, however, Ldh expression varies significantly among larval tissues, raising the question of how this enzyme promotes tissue-specific growth programs. Here we characterize two transgene reporters and an antibody that can be used to study Ldh expression in vivo. We find that all three tools produce similar Ldh expression patterns. Moreover, these reagents demonstrate that the larval Ldh expression pattern is complex, suggesting the purpose of this enzyme varies across cell types. Overall, our studies validate a series of genetic and molecular reagents that can be used to study glycolytic metabolism in the fly., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Rai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Pyruvate kinase (Pyk) is a rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes the final metabolic reaction in glycolysis. The importance of this enzyme, however, extends far beyond ATP production, as Pyk is also known to regulate tissue growth, cell proliferation, and development. Studies of this enzyme in Drosophila melanogaster are complicated by the fact that the fly genome encodes 6 Pyk paralogs whose functions remain poorly defined. To address this issue, we used sequence distance and phylogenetic approaches to demonstrate that the gene Pyk encodes the enzyme most similar to the mammalian Pyk orthologs, while the other 5 Drosophila Pyk paralogs have significantly diverged from the canonical enzyme. Consistent with this observation, metabolomic studies of 2 different Pyk mutant strains revealed that larvae lacking Pyk exhibit a severe block in glycolysis, with a buildup of glycolytic intermediates upstream of pyruvate. However, our analysis also unexpectedly reveals that pyruvate levels are unchanged in Pyk mutants, indicating that larval metabolism maintains pyruvate pool size despite severe metabolic limitations. Consistent with our metabolomic findings, a complementary RNA-seq analysis revealed that genes involved in lipid metabolism and protease activity are elevated in Pyk mutants, again indicating that loss of this glycolytic enzyme induces compensatory changes in other aspects of metabolism. Overall, our study provides both insight into how Drosophila larval metabolism adapts to disruption of glycolytic metabolism as well as immediate clinical relevance, considering that Pyk deficiency is the most common congenital enzymatic defect in humans., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The author(s) declare no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Genetics Society of America.)

The use of Drosophila melanogaster for studies of toxicology has grown considerably in the last decade. The Drosophila model has long been appreciated as a versatile and powerful model for developmental biology and genetics because of its ease of handling, short life cycle, low cost of maintenance, molecular genetic accessibility, and availability of a wide range of publicly available strains and data resources. These features, together with recent unique developments in genomics and metabolomics, make the fly model especially relevant and timely for the development of new approach methodologies and movements toward precision toxicology. Here, we offer a perspective on how flies can be leveraged to identify risk factors relevant to environmental exposures and human health. First, we review and discuss fundamental toxicologic principles for experimental design with Drosophila. Next, we describe quantitative and systems genetics approaches to resolve the genetic architecture and candidate pathways controlling susceptibility to toxicants. Finally, we summarize the current state and future promise of the emerging field of Drosophila metabolomics for elaborating toxic mechanisms. © 2023 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC., (© 2023 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Human industries generate hundreds of thousands of chemicals, many of which have not been adequately studied for environmental safety or effects on human health. This deficit of chemical safety information is exacerbated by current testing methods in mammals that are expensive, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. Recently, scientists and regulators have been working to develop new approach methodologies (NAMs) for chemical safety testing that are cheaper, more rapid, and reduce animal suffering. One of the key NAMs to emerge is the use of invertebrate organisms as replacements for mammalian models to elucidate conserved chemical modes of action across distantly related species, including humans. To advance these efforts, here, we describe a method that uses the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to assess chemical safety. The protocol describes a simple, rapid, and inexpensive procedure to measure the viability and feeding behavior of exposed adult flies. In addition, the protocol can be easily adapted to generate samples for genomic and metabolomic approaches. Overall, the protocol represents an important step forward in establishing Drosophila as a standard model for use in precision toxicology.

The astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle hypothesis posits that glial-generated lactate is transported to neurons to fuel metabolic processes required for long-term memory. Although studies in vertebrates have revealed that lactate shuttling is important for cognitive function, it is uncertain if this form of metabolic coupling is conserved in invertebrates or is influenced by age. Lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh) is a rate limiting enzyme that interconverts lactate and pyruvate. Here we genetically manipulated expression of Drosophila melanogaster lactate dehydrogenase (dLdh) in neurons or glia to assess the impact of altered lactate metabolism on invertebrate aging and long-term courtship memory at different ages. We also assessed survival, negative geotaxis, brain neutral lipids (the core component of lipid droplets) and brain metabolites. Both upregulation and downregulation of dLdh in neurons resulted in decreased survival and memory impairment with age. Glial downregulation of dLdh expression caused age-related memory impairment without altering survival, while upregulated glial dLdh expression lowered survival without disrupting memory. Both neuronal and glial dLdh upregulation increased neutral lipid accumulation. We provide evidence that altered lactate metabolism with age affects the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG), and neutral lipid accumulation. Collectively, our findings indicate that the direct alteration of lactate metabolism in either glia or neurons affects memory and survival but only in an age-dependent manner.

2-Hydroxyglutarate (2HG) overproducing tumors arise in a number of tissues, including the kidney. The tumorigenesis resulting from overproduced 2HG has been attributed to the ability of 2HG alter gene expression by inhibiting α-ketoglutarate (αKG)-dependent dioxygenases, including Ten-eleven-Translocation (TET) enzymes. Genes that regulate cellular differentiation are reportedly repressed, blocking differentiation of mesenchymal cells into myocytes, and adipocytes. In this report, the expression of the enzyme responsible for L2HG degradation, L-2HG dehydrogenase (L2HGDH), is knocked down, using lentiviral shRNA, as well as siRNA, in primary cultures of normal Renal Proximal Tubule (RPT) cells. The knockdown (KD) results in increased L-2HG levels, decreased demethylation of 5mC in genomic DNA, and increased methylation of H3 Histones. Consequences include reduced tubulogenesis by RPT cells in matrigel, and reduced expression of molecular markers of differentiation, including membrane transporters as well as HNF1α and HNF1β, which regulate their transcription. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that oncometabolite 2HG blocks RPT differentiation by altering the methylation status of chromatin in a manner that impedes the transcriptional events required for normal differentiation. Presumably, similar alterations are responsible for promoting the expansion of renal cancer stem-cells, increasing their propensity for malignant transformation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Taub, Mahmoudzadeh, Tennessen and Sudarshan.)

Honey bees have suffered dramatic losses in recent years, largely due to multiple stressors underpinned by poor nutrition [1]. Nutritional stress especially harms larvae, who mature into workers unable to meet the needs of their colony [2]. In this study, we characterize the metabolic capabilities of a honey bee larvae-associated bacterium, Bombella apis (formerly Parasaccharibacter apium), and its effects on the nutritional resilience of larvae. We found that B. apis is the only bacterium associated with larvae that can withstand the antimicrobial larval diet. Further, we found that B. apis can synthesize all essential amino acids and significantly alters the amino acid content of synthetic larval diet, largely by supplying the essential amino acid lysine. Analyses of gene gain/loss across the phylogeny suggest that four amino acid transporters were gained in recent B. apis ancestors. In addition, the transporter LysE is conserved across all sequenced strains of B. apis. Finally, we tested the impact of B. apis on developing honey bee larvae subjected to nutritional stress and found that larvae supplemented with B. apis are bolstered against mass reduction despite limited nutrition. Together, these data suggest a novel role of B. apis as a nutritional mutualist of honey bee larvae., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Society for Microbial Ecology.)

As the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, progresses from one life stage to the next, many of the enzymes that compose intermediary metabolism undergo substantial changes in both expression and activity. These predictable shifts in metabolic flux allow the fly meet stage-specific requirements for energy production and biosynthesis. In this regard, the enzyme glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 1 (GPDH1) has been the focus of biochemical genetics studies for several decades and, as a result, is one of the most well-characterized Drosophila enzymes. Among the findings of these earlier studies is that GPDH1 acts throughout the fly lifecycle to promote mitochondrial energy production and triglyceride accumulation while also serving a key role in maintaining redox balance. Here, we expand upon the known roles of GPDH1 during fly development by examining how depletion of both the maternal and zygotic pools of this enzyme influences development, metabolism, and viability. Our findings not only confirm previous observations that Gpdh1 mutants exhibit defects in larval development, lifespan, and fat storage but also reveal that GPDH1 serves essential roles in oogenesis and embryogenesis. Moreover, metabolomics analysis reveals that a Gpdh1 mutant stock maintained in a homozygous state exhibits larval metabolic defects that significantly differ from those observed in the F1 mutant generation. Overall, our findings highlight unappreciated roles for GPDH1 in early development and uncover previously undescribed metabolic adaptations that could allow flies to survive the loss of this key enzyme., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Genetics Society of America.)

Many of the Drosophila enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism are coordinately up-regulated approximately midway through embryogenesis. Previous studies have demonstrated that this metabolic transition is controlled by the Drosophila Estrogen-Related Receptor (dERR), which is stabilized and activated immediately prior to onset of glycolytic gene expression. The mechanisms that promote dERR activity, however, are poorly understood and other transcriptional regulators could control this metabolic transition, independent of dERR. In this regard, the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) represents an intriguing candidate for regulating glycolytic gene expression in embryos - not only does the embryonic 20E pulse immediately precede transcriptional up-regulation of glycolytic metabolism, but 20E is also known to promote Lactate dehydrogenase gene expression. Here I test the hypothesis that embryonic 20E signaling is required to activate glycolytic gene expression. Using developmental northern blots, I demonstrate that the transcriptional up-regulation of glycolytic genes during embryogenesis still occurs in shadow mutants, which are unable to synthesize either ecdysone or 20E. My finding indicates that ecdysone and 20E signaling are not required for this mid-embryonic metabolic transition., (Copyright: © 2021 by the authors.)

Sustaining life requires efficient uptake of nutrients and conversion to useable forms. Almost everything about this process is dynamic. Nutrient availability fluctuates and changing environmental conditions impose new demands that can tip the metabolic equilibrium from biosynthesis and macromolecule storage to energy expenditure. At the same time, the organism itself changes, particularly during the rapid growth and differentiation in early development and also later in life as the adult ages. Here we review what has been learned from Drosophila melanogaster as an experimental model about the connections between external signals, signaling pathways, tissues and organs that allow animals to balance energy storage with expenditure in the face of change, both intrinsic and extrinsic., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Dietary restriction (DR) extends healthy lifespan in diverse species. Age and nutrient-related changes in the abundance of microRNAs (miRNAs) and their processing factors have been linked to organismal longevity. However, the mechanisms by which they modulate lifespan and the tissue-specific role of miRNA-mediated networks in DR-dependent enhancement of lifespan remains largely unexplored. We show that two neuronally enriched and highly conserved microRNAs, miR-125 and let-7 mediate the DR response in Drosophila melanogaster . Functional characterization of miR-125 demonstrates its role in neurons while its target chinmo acts both in neurons and the fat body to modulate fat metabolism and longevity. Proteomic analysis revealed that Chinmo exerts its DR effects by regulating the expression of FATP, CG2017, CG9577, CG17554, CG5009, CG8778, CG9527 , and FASN1 . Our findings identify miR-125 as a conserved effector of the DR pathway and open the avenue for this small RNA molecule and its downstream effectors to be considered as potential drug candidates for the treatment of late-onset diseases and biomarkers for healthy aging in humans., Competing Interests: MP, SB, SB, AY, NS, JT, PK, GC No competing interests declared, (© 2021, Pandey et al.)

Successful Drosophila cell culture relies on media containing xenogenic components such as fetal bovine serum to support continuous cell proliferation. Here, we report a serum-free culture condition that supports the growth and proliferation of Drosophila S2R+ and Kc167 cell lines. Importantly, the gradual adaptation of S2R+ and Kc167 cells to a media lacking serum was supported by supplementing the media with adult Drosophila soluble extract, commonly known as fly extract. The utility of these adapted cells lines is largely unchanged. The adapted cells exhibited robust proliferative capacity and a transfection efficiency that was comparable to control cells cultured in serum-containing media. Transcriptomic data indicated that the S2R+ cells cultured with fly extract retain their hemocyte-specific transcriptome profile, and there were no global changes in the transcriptional output of cell signaling pathways. Our metabolome studies indicate that there were very limited metabolic changes. In fact, the cells were likely experiencing less oxidative stress when cultured in the serum-free media supplemented with fly extract. Overall, the Drosophila cell culture conditions reported here consequently provide researchers with an alternative and physiologically relevant resource to address cell biological research questions., (Copyright © 2020 Luhur et al.)

The oncometabolite L-2-hydroxyglutarate (L-2HG) is considered an abnormal product of central carbon metabolism that is capable of disrupting chromatin architecture, mitochondrial metabolism, and cellular differentiation. Under most circumstances, mammalian tissues readily dispose of this compound, as aberrant L-2HG accumulation induces neurometabolic disorders and promotes renal cell carcinomas. Intriguingly, Drosophila melanogaster larvae were recently found to accumulate high L-2HG levels under normal growth conditions, raising the possibility that L-2HG plays a unique role in insect metabolism. Here we explore this hypothesis by analyzing L-2HG levels in 18 insect species. While L-2HG was present at low-to-moderate levels in most of these species (<100 pmol/mg; comparable to mouse liver), dipteran larvae exhibited a tendency to accumulate high L-2HG concentrations (>100 pmol/mg), with the mosquito Aedes aegypti, the blow fly Phormia regina, and three representative Drosophila species harboring concentrations that exceed 1 nmol/mg - levels comparable to those measured in mutant mice that are unable to degrade L-2HG. Overall, our findings suggest that one of the largest groups of animals on earth commonly generate high concentrations of an oncometabolite during juvenile growth, hint at a role for L-2HG in the evolution of dipteran development, and raise the possibility that L-2HG metabolism could be targeted to restrict the growth of key disease vectors and agricultural pests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

L-2-hydroxyglutarate (L-2HG) is an oncometabolite found elevated in renal tumors. However, this molecule might have physiological roles that extend beyond its association with cancer, as L-2HG levels are elevated in response to hypoxia and during Drosophila larval development. L-2HG is known to be metabolized by L-2HG dehydrogenase (L2HGDH), and loss of L2HGDH leads to elevated L-2HG levels. Despite L2HGDH being highly expressed in the kidney, its role in renal metabolism has not been explored. Here, we report our findings utilizing a novel CRISPR/Cas9 murine knockout model, with a specific focus on the role of L2HGDH in the kidney. Histologically, L2hgdh knockout kidneys have no demonstrable histologic abnormalities. However, GC-MS metabolomics demonstrates significantly reduced levels of the TCA cycle intermediate succinate in multiple tissues. Isotope labeling studies with [U- 13 C] glucose demonstrate that restoration of L2HGDH in renal cancer cells (which lowers L-2HG) leads to enhanced incorporation of label into TCA cycle intermediates. Subsequent biochemical studies demonstrate that L-2HG can inhibit the TCA cycle enzyme α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. Bioinformatic analysis of mRNA expression data from renal tumors demonstrates that L2HGDH is co-expressed with genes encoding TCA cycle enzymes as well as the gene encoding the transcription factor PGC-1α, which is known to regulate mitochondrial metabolism. Restoration of PGC-1α in renal tumor cells results in increased L2HGDH expression with a concomitant reduction in L-2HG levels. Collectively, our analyses provide new insight into the physiological role of L2HGDH as well as mechanisms that promote L-2HG accumulation in disease states., (© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Developmental biologists have frequently pushed the frontiers of modern biomedical research. From the discovery and characterization of novel signal transduction pathways to exploring the molecular underpinnings of genetic inheritance, transcription, the cell cycle, cell death and stem cell biology, studies of metazoan development have historically opened new fields of study and consistently revealed previously unforeseen avenues of clinical therapies. From this perspective, it is not surprising that our community is now an integral part of the current renaissance in metabolic research. Amidst the global rise in metabolic syndrome, the discovery of novel signaling roles for metabolites, and the increasing links between altered metabolism and many human diseases, we as developmental biologists can contribute skills and expertise that are uniquely suited for investigating the mechanisms underpinning human metabolic health and disease. Here, we summarize the opportunities and challenges that our community faces, and discuss how developmental biologists can make unique and valuable contributions to the field of metabolism and physiology., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Cell growth and/or proliferation may require the reprogramming of metabolic pathways, whereby a switch from oxidative to glycolytic metabolism diverts glycolytic intermediates towards anabolic pathways. Herein, we identify a novel role for TRIM32 in the maintenance of glycolytic flux mediated by biochemical interactions with the glycolytic enzymes Aldolase and Phosphoglycerate mutase. Loss of Drosophila TRIM32, encoded by thin (tn) , shows reduced levels of glycolytic intermediates and amino acids. This altered metabolic profile correlates with a reduction in the size of glycolytic larval muscle and brain tissue. Consistent with a role for metabolic intermediates in glycolysis-driven biomass production, dietary amino acid supplementation in tn mutants improves muscle mass. Remarkably, TRIM32 is also required for ectopic growth - loss of TRIM32 in a wing disc-associated tumor model reduces glycolytic metabolism and restricts growth. Overall, our results reveal a novel role for TRIM32 for controlling glycolysis in the context of both normal development and tumor growth., Competing Interests: SB, DB, KN, MT, MS, JK, GC, BG, JT, KE, EG No competing interests declared, (© 2020, Bawa et al.)

Macrophage-mediated phagocytosis and cytokine production represent the front lines of resistance to bacterial invaders. A key feature of this pro-inflammatory response in mammals is the complex remodeling of cellular metabolism towards aerobic glycolysis. Although the function of bactericidal macrophages is highly conserved, the metabolic remodeling of insect macrophages remains poorly understood. Here, we used adults of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the metabolic changes that occur in macrophages during the acute and resolution phases of Streptococcus -induced sepsis. Our studies revealed that orthologs of Hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) are required for macrophage activation, their bactericidal function, and resistance to infection, thus documenting the conservation of this cellular response between insects and mammals. Further, we show that macrophages employing aerobic glycolysis induce changes in systemic metabolism that are necessary to meet the biosynthetic and energetic demands of their function and resistance to bacterial infection., Competing Interests: GK, AD, PN, MK, LS, GC, JT, JL, MJ, TD, AB No competing interests declared, (© 2019, Krejčová et al.)

The dramatic growth that occurs during Drosophila larval development requires rapid conversion of nutrients into biomass. Many larval tissues respond to these biosynthetic demands by increasing carbohydrate metabolism and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity. The resulting metabolic program is ideally suited for synthesis of macromolecules and mimics the manner by which cancer cells rely on aerobic glycolysis. To explore the potential role of Drosophila LDH in promoting biosynthesis, we examined how Ldh mutations influence larval development. Our studies unexpectedly found that Ldh mutants grow at a normal rate, indicating that LDH is dispensable for larval biomass production. However, subsequent metabolomic analyses suggested that Ldh mutants compensate for the inability to produce lactate by generating excess glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P), the production of which also influences larval redox balance. Consistent with this possibility, larvae lacking both LDH and G3P dehydrogenase (GPDH1) exhibit growth defects, synthetic lethality and decreased glycolytic flux. Considering that human cells also generate G3P upon inhibition of lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), our findings hint at a conserved mechanism in which the coordinate regulation of lactate and G3P synthesis imparts metabolic robustness to growing animal tissues., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2019. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

The metabolic enzymes that compose glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and other pathways within central carbon metabolism have emerged as key regulators of animal development. These enzymes not only generate the energy and biosynthetic precursors required to support cell proliferation and differentiation, but also moonlight as regulators of transcription, translation, and signal transduction. Many of the genes associated with animal metabolism, however, have never been analyzed in a developmental context, thus highlighting how little is known about the intersection of metabolism and development. Here we address this deficiency by using the Drosophila TRiP RNAi collection to disrupt the expression of over 1,100 metabolism-associated genes within cells of the eye imaginal disc. Our screen not only confirmed previous observations that oxidative phosphorylation serves a critical role in the developing eye, but also implicated a host of other metabolic enzymes in the growth and differentiation of this organ. Notably, our analysis revealed a requirement for glutamine and glutamate metabolic processes in eye development, thereby revealing a role of these amino acids in promoting Drosophila tissue growth. Overall, our analysis highlights how the Drosophila eye can serve as a powerful tool for dissecting the relationship between development and metabolism., (Copyright © 2019 Pletcher et al.)

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as an ideal system in which to study 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) metabolism. Unlike many mammalian tissues and cell lines, which primarily accumulate D- or L-2HG as the result of genetic mutations or metabolic stress, Drosophila larvae accumulate high concentrations of L-2HG during normal larval growth. As a result, flies represent one of the few model systems that allows for studies of endogenous L-2HG metabolism. Moreover, the Drosophila genome not only encodes key enzymes involved in the synthesis and degradation of D-2HG, but the fly has also been used as to investigate the in vivo effects of oncogenic isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (IDH1/2) mutations. All of these studies, however, rely on mass spectrometry-based methods to distinguish between the D- and L-2HG enantiomers. While such approaches are common among labs studying mammalian cell culture, few Drosophila studies have attempted to resolve and measure the individual 2HG enantiomers. Here we describe a highly reproducible gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based protocol that allows for quantitative measurements of both 2HG enantiomers in Drosophila homogenates.

The enantiomers of 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) are potent regulators of metabolism, chromatin modifications and cell fate decisions. Although these compounds are associated with tumor metabolism and commonly referred to as oncometabolites, both D- and L-2HG are also synthesized by healthy cells and likely serve endogenous functions. The metabolic mechanisms that control 2HG metabolism in vivo are poorly understood. One clue towards how cells regulate 2HG levels has emerged from an inborn error of metabolism known as combined D- and L-2HG aciduria (D-/L-2HGA), which results in elevated D- and L-2HG accumulation. Because this disorder is caused by mutations in the mitochondrial citrate transporter (CIC), citrate must somehow govern 2HG metabolism in healthy cells. The mechanism linking citrate and 2HG, however, remains unknown. Here, we use the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to elucidate a metabolic link between citrate transport and L-2HG accumulation. Our study reveals that the Drosophila gene scheggia ( sea ), which encodes the fly CIC homolog, dampens glycolytic flux and restricts L-2HG accumulation. Moreover, we find that sea mutants accumulate excess L-2HG owing to elevated lactate production, which inhibits L-2HG degradation by interfering with L-2HG dehydrogenase activity. This unexpected result demonstrates that citrate indirectly regulates L-2HG stability and reveals a feedback mechanism that coordinates L-2HG metabolism with glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Finally, our study also suggests a potential strategy for preventing L-2HG accumulation in human patients with CIC deficiency.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Background: Inflammation, metabolism, and epigenetic modulation are highly interconnected processes that can be altered during tumorigenesis. However, because of the complexity of these interactions, direct cause and effect during tumorigenesis have been difficult to prove. Previously, using a murine model of inflammation-induced colon tumorigenesis, we determined that the promoter of the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase gamma ( Polg ) is DNA hypermethylated and silenced in inflammation-induced tumors, but not in non-inflammation-induced (mock) tumors, suggesting that inflammation can induce silencing of Polg through promoting DNA methylation during tumorigenesis. Polg is the only mitochondrial DNA polymerase and mutations in Polg cause mitochondrial diseases in humans. Because of the role of mitochondria in metabolism, we hypothesized that silencing of Polg in inflammation-induced tumors would result in these tumors having altered metabolism in comparison to mock tumors., Methods: Inflammation-induced and mock colon tumors and colon epithelium from a mouse model of inflammation-induced colon tumorigenesis were assayed for alterations in Polg expression, mitochondria, and metabolism. Organoids derived from these tissues were used to study the direct effect of loss of Polg on mitochondria and metabolism., Results: We demonstrate that inflammation-induced tumors with reduced Polg expression have decreased mitochondrial DNA content and numbers of mitochondria compared to normal epithelium or mock tumors. Tumoroids derived from mock and inflammation-induced tumors retained key characteristics of the original tumors. Inflammation-induced tumoroids had increased glucose uptake and lactate secretion relative to mock tumoroids. shRNA-mediated knockdown of Polg in mock tumoroids reduced mtDNA content, increased glucose uptake and lactate secretion, and made the tumoroids more resistant to oxidative stress., Conclusions: These results suggest that inflammation-induced DNA methylation and silencing of Polg plays an important role in the tumorigenesis process by resulting in reduced mitochondria levels and altered metabolism. An enhanced understanding of how metabolism is altered in and drives inflammation-induced tumorigenesis will provide potential therapeutic targets., Competing Interests: All mouse experiments were covered under protocol number 16-027, which was approved by the Indiana University Bloomington Animal Care and Use Committee in accordance with the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International.Not applicableThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Recent advances in the field of metabolomics have established the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a powerful genetic model for studying animal metabolism. By combining the vast array of Drosophila genetic tools with the ability to survey large swaths of intermediary metabolism, a metabolomics approach can reveal complex interactions between diet, genotype, life-history events, and environmental cues. In addition, metabolomics studies can discover novel enzymatic mechanisms and uncover previously unknown connections between seemingly disparate metabolic pathways. In order to facilitate more widespread use of this technology among the Drosophila community, here we provide a detailed protocol that describes how to prepare Drosophila larval samples for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolomic analysis. Our protocol includes descriptions of larval sample collection, metabolite extraction, chemical derivatization, and GC-MS analysis. Successful completion of this protocol will allow users to measure the relative abundance of small polar metabolites, including amino acids, sugars, and organic acids involved in glycolysis and the TCA cycles.

In the beverage fermentation industry, especially at the craft or micro level, there is a movement to incorporate as many local ingredients as possible to both capture terroir and stimulate local economies. In the case of craft beer, this has traditionally only encompassed locally sourced barley, hops, and other agricultural adjuncts. The identification and use of novel yeasts in brewing lags behind. We sought to bridge this gap by bio-prospecting for wild yeasts, with a focus on the American Midwest. We isolated 284 different strains from 54 species of yeast and have begun to determine their fermentation characteristics. During this work, we found several isolates of five species that produce lactic acid and ethanol during wort fermentation: Hanseniaspora vineae, Lachancea fermentati, Lachancea thermotolerans, Schizosaccharomyces japonicus, and Wickerhamomyces anomalus. Tested representatives of these species yielded excellent attenuation, lactic acid production, and sensory characteristics, positioning them as viable alternatives to lactic acid bacteria (LAB) for the production of sour beers. Indeed, we suggest a new LAB-free paradigm for sour beer production that we term "primary souring" because the lactic acid production and resultant pH decrease occurs during primary fermentation, as opposed to kettle souring or souring via mixed culture fermentation., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a powerful model for investigating the molecular mechanisms that regulate animal metabolism. However, a major limitation of these studies is that many metabolic assays are tedious, dedicated to analyzing a single molecule, and rely on indirect measurements. As a result, Drosophila geneticists commonly use candidate gene approaches, which, while important, bias studies toward known metabolic regulators. In an effort to expand the scope of Drosophila metabolic studies, we used the classic mutant lysine ( lys ) to demonstrate how a modern metabolomics approach can be used to conduct forward genetic studies. Using an inexpensive and well-established gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-based method, we genetically mapped and molecularly characterized lys by using free lysine levels as a phenotypic readout. Our efforts revealed that lys encodes the Drosophila homolog of Lysine Ketoglutarate Reductase/Saccharopine Dehydrogenase, which is required for the enzymatic degradation of lysine. Furthermore, this approach also allowed us to simultaneously survey a large swathe of intermediate metabolism, thus demonstrating that Drosophila lysine catabolism is complex and capable of influencing seemingly unrelated metabolic pathways. Overall, our study highlights how a combination of Drosophila forward genetics and metabolomics can be used for unbiased studies of animal metabolism, and demonstrates that a single enzymatic step is intricately connected to diverse aspects of metabolism., (Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.)

Despite the fact that metabolic studies played a prominent role in the early history of developmental biology research, the field of developmental metabolism was largely ignored following the advent of modern molecular biology. Metabolism, however, has recently re-emerged as a focal point of biomedical studies and, as a result, developmental biologists are once again exploring the chemical and energetic forces that shape growth, development and maturation. In May 2017, a diverse group of scientists assembled at the EMBO/EMBL Symposium 'Metabolism in Time and Space' to discuss how metabolism influences cellular and developmental processes. The speakers not only described how metabolic flux adapts to the energetic needs of a developing organism, but also emphasized that metabolism can directly regulate developmental progression. Overall, and as we review here, this interdisciplinary meeting provided a valuable forum to explore the interface between developmental biology and metabolism., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests., (© 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

The field of metabolic research has experienced an unexpected renaissance. While this renewed interest in metabolism largely originated in response to the global increase in diabetes and obesity, studies of metabolic regulation now represent the frontier of many biomedical fields. This trend is especially apparent in developmental biology, where metabolism influences processes ranging from stem cell differentiation and tissue growth to sexual maturation and reproduction. In this regard, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a powerful tool for dissecting conserved mechanisms that underlie developmental metabolism, often with a level of detail that is simply not possible in other animals. Here we describe why the fly is an ideal system for exploring the relationship between metabolism and development, and outline a basic experimental strategy for conducting these studies. WIREs Dev Biol 2017, 6:e280. doi: 10.1002/wdev.280 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Metabolomic analysis provides a powerful new tool for studies of Drosophila physiology. This approach allows investigators to detect thousands of chemical compounds in a single sample, representing the combined contributions of gene expression, enzyme activity, and environmental context. Metabolomics has been used for a wide range of studies in Drosophila , often providing new insights into gene function and metabolic state that could not be obtained using any other approach. In this review, we survey the uses of metabolomic analysis since its entry into the field. We also cover the major methods used for metabolomic studies in Drosophila and highlight new directions for future research., (Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.)

L-2-hydroxyglutarate (L-2HG) has emerged as a putative oncometabolite that is capable of inhibiting enzymes involved in metabolism, chromatin modification, and cell differentiation. However, despite the ability of L-2HG to interfere with a broad range of cellular processes, this molecule is often characterized as a metabolic waste product. Here, we demonstrate that Drosophila larvae use the metabolic conditions established by aerobic glycolysis to both synthesize and accumulate high concentrations of L-2HG during normal developmental growth. A majority of the larval L-2HG pool is derived from glucose and dependent on the Drosophila estrogen-related receptor (dERR), which promotes L-2HG synthesis by up-regulating expression of the Drosophila homolog of lactate dehydrogenase (dLdh). We also show that dLDH is both necessary and sufficient for directly synthesizing L-2HG and the Drosophila homolog of L-2-hydroxyglutarate dehydrogenase (dL2HGDH), which encodes the enzyme that breaks down L-2HG, is required for stage-specific degradation of the L-2HG pool. In addition, dLDH also indirectly promotes L-2HG accumulation via synthesis of lactate, which activates a metabolic feed-forward mechanism that inhibits dL2HGDH activity and stabilizes L-2HG levels. Finally, we use a genetic approach to demonstrate that dLDH and L-2HG influence position effect variegation and DNA methylation, suggesting that this compound serves to coordinate glycolytic flux with epigenetic modifications. Overall, our studies demonstrate that growing animal tissues synthesize L-2HG in a controlled manner, reveal a mechanism that coordinates glucose catabolism with L-2HG synthesis, and establish the fly as a unique model system for studying the endogenous functions of L-2HG during cell growth and proliferation., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Corneal endothelium (CE) is among the most metabolically active tissues in the body. This elevated metabolic rate helps the CE maintain corneal transparency by its ion and fluid transport properties, which when disrupted, leads to visual impairment. Here we demonstrate that glutamine catabolism (glutaminolysis) through TCA cycle generates a large fraction of the ATP needed to maintain CE function, and this glutaminolysis is severely disrupted in cells deficient in NH 3 :H + cotransporter Solute Carrier Family 4 Member 11 (SLC4A11). Considering SLC4A11 mutations leads to corneal endothelial dystrophy and sensorineural deafness, our results indicate that SLC4A11-associated developmental and degenerative disorders result from altered glutamine catabolism. Overall, our results describe an important metabolic mechanism that provides CE cells with the energy required to maintain high level transport activity, reveal a direct link between glutamine metabolism and developmental and degenerative neuronal diseases, and suggest an approach for protecting the CE during ophthalmic surgeries., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Recent research using Drosophila melanogaster has seen a resurgence in studies of metabolism and physiology. This review focuses on major methods used to conduct this work. These include protocols for dietary interventions, measurements of triglycerides, cholesterol, glucose, trehalose, and glycogen, stains for lipid detection, and the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to detect major polar metabolites. It is our hope that this will provide a useful framework for both new and current researchers in the field., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Rapidly proliferating cells such as cancer cells and embryonic stem cells rely on a specialized metabolic program known as aerobic glycolysis, which supports biomass production from carbohydrates. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster also utilizes aerobic glycolysis to support the rapid growth that occurs during larval development. Here we use singular value decomposition analysis of modENCODE RNA-seq data combined with GC-MS-based metabolomic analysis to analyze the changes in gene expression and metabolism that occur during Drosophila embryogenesis, spanning the onset of aerobic glycolysis. Unexpectedly, we find that the most common pattern of co-expressed genes in embryos includes the global switch to glycolytic gene expression that occurs midway through embryogenesis. In contrast to the canonical aerobic glycolytic pathway, however, which is accompanied by reduced mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, the expression of genes involved in the tricarboxylic cycle (TCA cycle) and the electron transport chain are also upregulated at this time. Mitochondrial activity, however, appears to be attenuated, as embryos exhibit a block in the TCA cycle that results in elevated levels of citrate, isocitrate, and α-ketoglutarate. We also find that genes involved in lipid breakdown and β-oxidation are upregulated prior to the transcriptional initiation of glycolysis, but are downregulated before the onset of larval development, revealing coordinated use of lipids and carbohydrates during development. These observations demonstrate the efficient use of nutrient stores to support embryonic development, define sequential metabolic transitions during this stage, and demonstrate striking similarities between the metabolic state of late-stage fly embryos and tumor cells., (Copyright © 2014 Tennessen et al.)

To search for evolutionary forces that might act upon transcript length, we use the singular value decomposition (SVD) to identify the length distribution functions of sets and subsets of human and yeast transcripts from profiles of mRNA abundance levels across gel electrophoresis migration distances that were previously measured by DNA microarrays. We show that the SVD identifies the transcript length distribution functions as "asymmetric generalized coherent states" from the DNA microarray data and with no a-priori assumptions. Comparing subsets of human and yeast transcripts of the same gene ontology annotations, we find that in both disparate eukaryotes, transcripts involved in protein synthesis or mitochondrial metabolism are significantly shorter than typical, and in particular, significantly shorter than those involved in glucose metabolism. Comparing the subsets of human transcripts that are overexpressed in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) or normal brain tissue samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas, we find that GBM maintains normal brain overexpression of significantly short transcripts, enriched in transcripts that are involved in protein synthesis or mitochondrial metabolism, but suppresses normal overexpression of significantly longer transcripts, enriched in transcripts that are involved in glucose metabolism and brain activity. These global relations among transcript length, cellular metabolism and tumor development suggest a previously unrecognized physical mode for tumor and normal cells to differentially regulate metabolism in a transcript length-dependent manner. The identified distribution functions support a previous hypothesis from mathematical modeling of evolutionary forces that act upon transcript length in the manner of the restoring force of the harmonic oscillator.

Adult body size in higher animals is dependent on the amount of growth that occurs during the juvenile stage. The duration of juvenile development, therefore, must be flexible and responsive to environmental conditions. When immature animals experience environmental stresses such as malnutrition or disease, maturation can be delayed until conditions improve and normal growth can resume. In contrast, when animals are raised under ideal conditions that promote rapid growth, internal checkpoints ensure that maturation does not occur until juvenile development is complete. Although the mechanisms that regulate growth and gate the onset of maturation have been investigated for decades, the emerging links between childhood obesity, early onset puberty, and adult metabolic disease have placed a new emphasis on this field. Remarkably, genetic studies in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster have shown that the central regulatory pathways that control growth and the timing of sexual maturation are conserved through evolution, and suggest that this aspect of animal life history is regulated by a common genetic architecture. This review focuses on these conserved mechanisms and highlights recent studies that explore how Drosophila coordinates developmental growth with environmental conditions., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Metabolism must be coordinated with development to provide the appropriate energetic needs for each stage in the life cycle. Little is known, however, about how this temporal control is achieved. Here, we show that the Drosophila ortholog of the estrogen-related receptor (ERR) family of nuclear receptors directs a critical metabolic transition during development. dERR mutants die as larvae with low ATP levels and elevated levels of circulating sugars. The expression of active dERR protein in mid-embryogenesis triggers a coordinate switch in gene expression that drives a metabolic program normally associated with proliferating cells, supporting the dramatic growth that occurs during larval development. This study shows that dERR plays a central role in carbohydrate metabolism, demonstrates that a proliferative metabolic program is used in normal developmental growth, and provides a molecular context to understand the close association between mammalian ERR family members and cancer., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Environmental conditions can have a major impact on developmental progression in animals. For example, when C. elegans larvae encounter harsh conditions they can reversibly halt the passage of developmental time by forming a long-lived dauer larva at the end of the second larval stage. Here, we show that the period homolog lin-42, known to control developmental time, also acts as a component of a switch that mediates dauer entry. Loss of lin-42 function renders animals hypersensitive to dauer formation under stressful conditions, whereas misexpression of lin-42 in the pre-dauer stage inhibits dauer formation, indicating that lin-42 acts as a negative regulator of this life history decision. These phenotypes place LIN-42 in opposition to the ligand-free form of the nuclear receptor DAF-12, which indirectly senses environmental conditions and helps to integrate external cues into developmental decisions. Mutations that impair DAF-12 ligand binding are exquisitely sensitive to the absence of lin-42, whereas overexpression of LIN-42 can suppress the dauer constitutive phenotype of a ligand-insensitive daf-12 mutant, suggesting that LIN-42 and DAF-12 are intimate partners in controlling the decision to become a dauer larva. The functional outputs of Period family proteins and nuclear receptors also converge in other organisms, suggesting that the relationship between lin-42 and daf-12 represents an ancient genetic framework for responding to environmental stimuli.