Larval (left), but not future adult (right), tissues are stunted if the fat body senses a protein deficit (bottom).

Léopold/Elsevier

Fly larvae have a sensor to recognize when food supply is low so that they can conserve nutrients for where they are needed most, according to a new report from Julien Colombani, Pierre Léopold, and colleagues (CNRS, Nice, France). The study may provide clues about how and where vertebrates process nutritional signals into growth instructions.

The fly sensor is found in the fat body—an organ similar in nutritional storage and endocrine functions to the human liver. Léopold's group now shows that the fat body warns other larval tissues of limited nutrient supply by monitoring amino acid levels.

Growth defects were induced throughout the fly when the activity of an amino acid transporter, called slimfast, was blocked in the fat body, whereas defects remained localized...

The Rockefeller University Press
2003
The Rockefeller University Press
2003
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