Drosophila sperm sRNA changes with sugar diet and NAC supplement

A wide spectrum of exogenous factors, including diet, environmental pollutants, stress, and seasonal changes have major impact on sperm quality and function. However, the molecular basis explaining this susceptibility to the environment remains largely unknown. In this study, using a combination of proteomics and sRNA sequencing we show that Drosophila sperm display rapid molecular changes in response to dietary sugar, both in terms of metabolic/redox proteins and sRNA content, particularly miRNA and mitochondria derived sRNA. Both omics data thus suggest the dynamics of mitochondria to be in the centre of rapid changes in sperm. Using specific stains and in-vivo redox reporter flies, we show that diet indeed rapidly altered the production of mitochondrial derived reactive oxygen species (ROS). Quenching ROS via supplementation of N acetyl cysteine reduced diet-upregulated miRNA, but not mt-sRNA. These findings outline the molecular underpinnings of the links between diet and sperm metabolism.