Fruit flies prioritize mating over survival: study

Fruit flies mate with each other even when they are killed by a deadly pathogen.

Both male and female fruit flies show normal levels of success in courting each other, according to the results published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Infections are thought to reduce the amount of energy available for other activities because of their cost. The study showed that fruit flies were still engaged in sexual activity regardless of whether the male or female fly was sick.

The leader of the research team at the University of Birmingham says that animals have limited energy resources that need to be distributed among different activities. We wanted to understand how animals prioritize and balance their investment in reproduction and immune defense.

Saloni Rose used a fruit fly to answer the question. She discovered that both male and female fruit flies were similar in their behavior when they were infecting each other. When the flies' immune system was manipulated using genetic manipulation, it was also true. The flies that are uninfecting are more likely to have sex with both healthy and infectious partners.

The flies are not oblivious to infections. Studies have shown that flies can show abnormal behavior. The new study suggests that courtship and mating behaviors are prioritized even when other behaviors are altered.

Some animals respond to a potential life threat by investing more into reproduction in order to pass on genes to the next generation. This may be the case with fruit flies in the lab. There is more work to be done to find out what is going on in the brain to maintain reproductive behaviors.

Professor Dionne, Dr. Beckwith, and Professor Robin May collaborated with the team.

More information: Pre-copulatory reproductive behaviours are preserved in Drosophila melanogaster infected with bacteria, Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Citation: Fruit flies prioritize mating over survival: study (2022, May 10) retrieved 10 May 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-05-fruit-flies-prioritize-survival.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.