The Drosophila mutant para^Shu harbors a dominant, gain-of-function allele of the voltage-gated sodium channel gene, paralytic (para). The mutant flies display severe seizure-like phenotypes, including neuronal hyperexcitability, spontaneous spasms, ether-induced leg shaking, and heat-induced convulsions. We unexpectedly found that two distinct food recipes used routinely in the Drosophila research community result in a striking difference in severity of the para^Shu phenotypes. Namely, when para^Shu mutants were raised on the diet originally formulated by Edward Lewis in 1960, they showed severe neurological defects as previously reported. In contrast, when they were raised on the diet developed by Frankel and Brousseau in 1968, these phenotypes were substantially suppressed. Comparison of the effects of these two well-established food recipes revealed that the diet-dependent phenotypic suppression is accounted for by milk whey, which is present only in the latter. Inclusion of milk whey in the diet during larval stages was critical for suppression of the adult para^Shu phenotypes, suggesting that this dietary modification affects development of the nervous system. We also found that milk whey has selective effects on other neurological mutants. Among the behavioral phenotypes of different para mutant alleles, those of para^GEFS+ and para^bss were suppressed by milk whey, while those of para^DS and para^ts1 were not significantly affected. Overall, our study demonstrates that different diets routinely used in Drosophila labs could have considerably different effects on neurological phenotypes of Drosophila mutants. This finding provides a solid foundation for further investigation into how dietary modifications affect development and function of the nervous system and, ultimately, how they influence behavior.

在果蝇的突变体对^舒怀有电压门控钠通道的基因，的显性，增益的功能等位基因麻痹（段）。突变果蝇表现出严重的癫痫样表型，包括神经元过度兴奋、自发性痉挛、乙醚引起的腿颤抖和热引起的抽搐。我们出人意料地发现，果蝇研究界经常使用的两种不同的食物食谱导致para ^Shu表型严重程度的显着差异。也就是说，当对^舒突变体是在爱德华刘易斯最初于 1960 年制定的饮食中饲养的，它们表现出先前报道的严重神经缺陷。相比之下，当它们在 1968 年由 Frankel 和 Brousseau 开发的饮食中饲养时，这些表型被大大抑制了。比较这两种行之有效的食物食谱的效果表明，依赖于饮食的表型抑制是由乳清造成的，而乳清仅存在于后者中。在幼虫阶段在饮食中加入乳清对于抑制成年para ^Shu表型至关重要，这表明这种饮食改变会影响神经系统的发育。我们还发现乳清对其他神经突变体具有选择性作用。在不同的行为表型中para突变等位基因，para ^GEFS+和para ^{bss 的}那些被乳清抑制，而para ^DS和para ^{ts1 的}那些没有受到显着影响。总体而言，我们的研究表明，果蝇实验室中常规使用的不同饮食可能对果蝇突变体的神经表型产生相当不同的影响。这一发现为进一步研究饮食改变如何影响神经系统的发育和功能以及最终如何影响行为奠定了坚实的基础。