This was a Genetics Society funded internship hosted by the Professor Tracey Chapman lab at University of East Anglia (UEA) in Summer 2022.
The aim of this project was to investigate the effect of altered protein:carbohydrate (P:C) ratios and dietary choice on lifespan in male and female Drosophila melanogaster. This project looks at:
- How males chose compared to females (Experiment 1)
- How mated females chose compared to virgin females (Experiments 2a and 2b)
- If choice differed if females were placed in plates with males compared with if they were in plates alone (Experiment 3)
The basis of this experiment monitored the effect of sex and mating status on having divergent dietary choice. A "Patch Preference Assay" (Churchill, et al) was used, in which there were four altered P:C ratio patches of diets which are known to give an optimal lifespan/ the best reproductive success, as shown in Figure 1. The P:C diets chosen in these experiments were: 8:1, 2:1, 1:2, 1:8.
Figure 1: Mated female feeding behaviour shown in an experimental petri dish. The top of the petri dish shows diet ratios from (left to right) 8:1 and 2:1, and the bottom of the dish shows P:C ratios 1:2 and 1:8. Mated females are shown to mainly feed on the 8:1 diet.
Figure 2: A boxplot showing the divergent choice of different protein: carbohydrate (P:C) diets of mated females (left) and virgin females (right).
This script contains data analysis and data visualisation of experiment 1. Experiment 1 shows the feeding behaviour of mated male flies compared with the feeding behaviour of mated female flies. Data was collected over the course of 2 days, and all flies were given the choice of 4x altered P:C ratios in a choice "patch preference assay" (Churchill et al).
This experiment also shows data analysis of divergent dietary choice of where female flies chose to lay their eggs.
This script contains data analysis and data visualisation of experiment 2a. Experiment 2a shows feeding behaviour of mated females compared with the feeding behaviour of virgin females over the course of 3 days, when given the choice of 4x altered P:C ratios.
This experiment also looks into diet choice of where the different types of females chose to lay the eggs.
This script contains data analysis and data visualisation for experiment 2b. Experiment 2b is a repeat of the experiment looking at the feeding behaviour of mated females compared with the feeding behaviour of virgin females. Experiment 2b data was collected over the course of 2 days, when flies were given the choice of 4x altered P:C ratios.
This experiment looks at on what patch mated females chose to lay their eggs, based off offspring count data.
This script contains data analysis and data visualisation for experiment 3. Experiment 3 looks at the feeding behaviour of n=10 females on a replicate of plates, compared with n=5 females mixed with n=5 males on a replicate of plate. Feeding behaviour is monitored from 4x different P:C ratios. Data was collected over the course of 2 days.
This experiment also includes analysis of the offspring produced from egg laying on the 4x different P:C ratios.
EggCountingDataExp1.xlsx: An excel document containing the egg counts for the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios taken from experiment 1.
FemaleNotFeedingExp1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of female flies that weren't on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios, and instead were around the plate, from experiment 1.
MalesNotFeedingExp1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of male flies that weren't on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios, and instead were around the plate, from experiment 1.
MatedFemalesE1D1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 1.
MatedFemalesE1D2.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 2 observations from experiment 1.
MatedMalesE1D1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of male flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 1.
MatedMalesE1D2.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of male flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 2 observations from experiment 1.
MatedEggCountE2a.xlsx: An excel document containing the egg counts for the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios taken from experiment 2a from the mated females plates.
VirginEggCountE2a.xlsx: An excel document containing the egg counts for the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios taken from experiment 2a from the virgin females plates.
MatedFemalesE2aD1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 2a.
MatedFemalesE2aD2.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 2 observations from experiment 2a.
MatedFemalesE2aD3.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 3 observations from experiment 2a.
VirginFemalesE2aD1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of virgin female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 2a.
VirginFemalesE2aD2.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of virgin female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 2 observations from experiment 2a.
VirginFemalesE2aD3.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of virgin female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 3 observations from experiment 2a.
MatedFemalesE2bD1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 2b.
MatedFemalesE2bD2.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 2 observations from experiment 2b.
VirginFemalesE2bD1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of virgin female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 2b.
VirginFemalesE2bD2.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of virgin female flies that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 2b.
Exp3OffspringAlone.xlsx An excel document containing the offspring counts from the 4x P:C food patches when females were alone on a plate.
Exp3OffspringBoth.xlsx An excel document containing the offspring counts from the 4x P:C food patches when females were with males on a plate.
MatedFemalesE3D1.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies on a plate alone that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 3.
MatedFemalesE3D2.xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies on a plate alone that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 2 observations from experiment 3.
MatedMalesE3D1(M+F).xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of male flies on a plate with females that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 3.
MatedMalesE3D2(M+F).xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of male flies on a plate with females that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 2 observations from experiment 3.
MatedFemalesE3D1(M+F).xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies on a plate with males that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 3.
MatedFemalesE3D2(M+F).xlsx: An excel document containing the amount of mated female flies on a plate with males that were on any of the 4 different protein:carbohydrate ratios from day 1 observations from experiment 3.