Université de Fribourg

Diet and longevity in the balance

Flatt, Thomas

In: Nature, 2009, vol. 462, no. 24, p. 989-990

Dietary restriction promotes longevity but impairs fecundity in many organisms. When the amino acids in a diet are fine-tuned, however, lifespan can be increased without loss of fecundity — at least in fruitflies.

Université de Fribourg

Drosophila germ-line modulation of insulin signaling and lifespan

Flatt, Thomas ; Min, Kyung-Jin ; D'Alterio, Cecilia ; Villa-Cuesta, Eugenia ; Cumbers, John ; Lehmann, Ruth ; Jones, D. Leanne ; Tatar, Marc

In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008, vol. 105, no. 17, p. 6368–6373

Ablation of germ-line precursor cells in Caenorhabditis elegans extends lifespan by activating DAF-16, a forkhead transcription factor (FOXO) repressed by insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling (IIS). Signals from the gonad might thus regulate whole-organism aging by modulating IIS. To date, the details of this systemic regulation of aging by the reproductive system are not...

Université de Fribourg

Comparing thyroid and insect hormone signaling

Flatt, Thomas ; Moroz, Leonid L. ; Tatar, Marc ; Heyland, Andreas

In: Integrative and Comparative Biology, 2006, vol. 46, no. 6, p. 777-794

Transitions between different states of development, physiology, and life history are typically mediated by hormones. In insects, metamorphosis and reproductive maturation are regulated by an interaction between the sesquiterpenoid juvenile hormone (JH) and the steroid 20-hydroxy-ecdysone (20E). In vertebrates and some marine invertebrates, the lipophilic thyroid hormones (THs) affect...

Université de Fribourg

A Bit of Sex Stabilizes Host+Parasite Dynamics

Flatt, Thomas ; Maire, Nicolas ; Doebeli, Michael

In: Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2001, vol. 212, no. 3, p. 345-354

To date, only a few studies have focused on the effects of sex on population dynamics. Previous models have typically found that sexual reproduction dampens population fluctuations. Although asexual and sexual reproduction are just the two endpoints along a continuum of varying rates of sex, previous work has ignored the effects of intermediate degrees of sex on population dynamics. Here we study...

Université de Fribourg

Juvenile hormone as a regulator of the trade-off between reproduction and life span in Drosophila melanogaster

Flatt, Thomas ; Kawecki, Tadeusz J.

In: Evolution, 2007, vol. 61, no. 8, p. 1980–1991

Trade-offs between reproduction and life span are ubiquitous, but little is known about their underlying mechanisms. Here we combine treatment with the juvenile hormone analog (JHa) methoprene and experimental evolution in Drosophila melanogaster to study the potential role of juvenile hormone (JH) in mediating such trade-offs at both the physiological and evolutionary level. Exposure to...