Transgenerational Effects of Parental Diet on Offspring Development and Disease Resistance in Flies

The environmental conditions experienced by parents influence next generations, with the parental nutritional status playing an important role in shaping offspring phenotypes. Our understanding of transgenerational effects diet on pathogen resistance is, however, poorly documented. We manipulated quality (i.e., mother, father, or both) and measured development survival after immune challenge septic infection. used Bactrocera tryoni as host model infected pathogenic bacterium, Serratia marcescens . results showed no significant effect maternal, paternal, resistance. Interestingly, when both was manipulated, sons from fed either carbohydrate- protein-biased diets had higher upon infection than balanced diets. developmental traits exception egg hatching percentage which decreased mothers were a diet. emphasised complexity development.