Translational Changes Upon Dietary Restriction in Drosophila

Analysis of the translational changes induced upon DR in male Drosophila. 1-2 day old flies were transferred onto 4% or 0.25% YE food for 6 days. ~100 male flies were then ground and RNA was separated by size on a sucrose gradient and fractionated using a Teledyne density gradient fractionator and a polysome profile was produced by monitoring the abs at 252nm. RNA was then prepared from the low (1-4 ribosomes bound) and high (5 or more ribosomes bound) translation fractions. A translational index was then calculated for each mRNA. The changes in translational index upon DR were then evaluated. This was done in triplicate on individual biological replicates.