ABSTRACT
Glycogen is a critical store for locomotion. Depleted glycogen stores are associated with increased fatigue during exercise. The reduced effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss over longer time periods may arise because such diets reduce glycogen stores and thereby energy expenditure via physical activity. To explore the effect of a low-carbohydrate diet on activity and glycogen utilisation, we fed adult Drosophila melanogaster a standard or low-carbohydrate diet for 9 days and measured patterns of flight activity and rates of glycogen depletion. We hypothesised that flight activity and rates of glycogen depletion would be reduced on a low-carbohydrate diet. Flight activity was elevated in the low-carbohydrate group but glycogen depletion rates were unchanged. We conclude that increased activity is probably a foraging response to carbohydrate deficiency and speculate that the previously demonstrated metabolic depression that occurs on a low-carbohydrate diet in this species may allow for increased flight activity without increased glycogen depletion.
Footnotes
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing or financial interests.
Author contributions
Conceptualization: H.S.W.-S., C.E.F.; Methodology: H.S.W.-S.; Formal analysis: H.S.W.-S., C.R.W.; Resources: C.R.W., C.E.F.; Data curation: H.S.W.-S.; Writing - original draft: H.S.W.-S.; Writing - review & editing: H.S.W.-S., C.R.W., C.E.F.; Visualization: H.S.W.-S.; Supervision: C.R.W., C.E.F.; Funding acquisition: C.R.W.
Funding
This research was supported by the Australian Research Council (project FT130101493).
Supplementary information
Supplementary information available online at https://jeb.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/jeb.228379.supplemental
- Received May 16, 2020.
- Accepted June 4, 2020.
- © 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
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