A temporal allocation of amino acid resources ensures fitness and body allometry

Abstract

Organisms have evolved strategies to store resources and overcome periods of low or no nutrient access including transient shortages or longer non-feeding developmental transitions. Holometabolous insects like Drosophila represent an attractive model to study resource allocation during development since they alternate feeding and non-feeding periods. Amino acids are essential components for tissue growth and renewal, but the strategies used for their storage remain largely unexplored. Here, we uncover a 2-step mechanism for the temporal production, storage and use of specific storage proteins called hexamerins. Moreover, we show that modulating amino acid storage affects the relative growth of organs across developmental phases and, as a consequence, alters body allometry and adult fitness.