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. 2009 Oct 1;212(19):3132-41.
doi: 10.1242/jeb.031179.

Metabolic function in Drosophila melanogaster in response to hypoxia and pure oxygen

Wayne A Van Voorhies  1
Affiliations

Metabolic function in Drosophila melanogaster in response to hypoxia and pure oxygen

Wayne A Van Voorhies. J Exp Biol. .

Abstract

This study examined the metabolic response of Drosophila melanogaster exposed to O(2) concentrations ranging from 0 to 21% and at 100%. The metabolic rate of flies exposed to graded hypoxia remained nearly constant as O(2) tensions were reduced from normoxia to approximately 3 kPa. There was a rapid, approximately linear reduction in fly metabolic rate at P(O(2))s between 3 and 0.5 kPa. The reduction in metabolic rate was especially pronounced at P(O(2)) levels <0.5 kPa, and at a P(O(2)) of 0.1 kPa fly metabolic rate was reduced approximately 10-fold relative to normoxic levels. The metabolic rate of flies exposed to anoxia and then returned to normoxia recovered to pre-anoxic levels within 30 min with no apparent payment of a hypoxia-induced oxygen debt. Flies tolerated exposure to hypoxia and/or anoxia for 40 min with nearly 100% survival. Fly mortality increased rapidly after 2 h of anoxia and >16 h exposure was uniformly lethal. Flies exposed to pure O(2) for 24 h showed no apparent alteration of metabolic rate, even though such O(2) tensions should damage respiratory enzymes critical to mitochondria function. Within a few hours the metabolic rate of flies recovering from exposure to repeated short bouts of anoxia was the same as flies exposed to a single anoxia exposure.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Effect of reduced O2 levels on D. melanogaster metabolic rate (measured as CO2 production). The metabolic response to hypoxia data are from metabolic rates determined at 28 different O2 tensions measured in six independent groups of flies. Data are means ± s.e.m. (A) metabolic rates at O2 tensions ranging from normoxia to 0 kPa. The asterisk indicates when metabolic rate is first significantly reduced compared with normoxia, and the open symbols are the metabolic rate of control groups not exposed to hypoxia. (B) The lower range of the same data plotted at higher resolution. The two lines are the average change in metabolic rate for O2 tensions between 0.1 and 0.6 kPa, and 0.7 and 3.1 kPa. The equation describing the relationship between relative metabolic rate and O2 tension in extreme hypoxia is: MR=0.75x+0.04, r2=0.94; and for less extreme hypoxia MR=0.16x+0.4, r2=0.83, with x as the PO2. (C) Recovery of fly metabolic rate after exposure to anoxia. (D) The RQ (respiratory quotient) and relative metabolic rate of flies progressively exposed to O2 tensions of 1.2, 0.8, 0.4, 0.2 kPa. Open symbols are the relative metabolic rate and RQ of flies maintained in normoxic conditions. Data are from five groups of flies exposed to hypoxia and three control groups.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
The effect of time of exposure to reduced oxygen tensions on D. melanogaster survival. Values are means ± s.e.m., N=5 for each time point.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
The effect of multiple hypoxic–reperfusion events on the subsequent metabolic rate (MR) and respiratory quotient (RQ) in D. melanogaster. (A) Recovery MR and RQ of groups of flies exposed to either a single period of hypoxia or five periods of hypoxia and normoxia. (B) Recovery MR and RQ of groups of flies exposed to either a single period of hypoxia or 10 periods of hypoxia and normoxia. Values are means ± s.e.m.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
The metabolic response of D. melanogaster to hyperoxia. Data are plotted at a 6 min resolution from five groups of flies exposed to 100% O2 for 24 h and five groups of control flies exposed to normoxia. Values are means ± s.e.m.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
The effect on relative metabolic rate of a 30 min exposure to 100% N2 or CO2. Values are means ± s.e.m. with four groups of flies in each treatment group.
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