The role of GCN2 kinase in amino acid dependent longevity and feeding behaviour in Drosophila

Dietary amino acids restriction extends lifespan in diverse species ranging from flies to mammals. The evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase General Control Nonderepressible 2 (GCN2) is a key sensor of amino acid deficiency and has been implicated in lifespan regulation upon dietary restriction. However, the role of individual essential amino acids (EAA) in modulating organismal lifespan and the underlying molecular mechanisms through which EAA mediate these effects are only partially understood. We generated a novel Drosophila GCN2 null mutant and systematically analyzed its response to individual amino acid deficiency. Transcriptional profiling of control and GCN2 null mutant flies feeding with the Yaa control diet or diets with arginine (R), methionine (M), or all amino acid (All) deprived. RNA was extracted from head and thorax, with three replicates for each sample. RNA sequencing was performed using the HiSeq 2500 platform.