Data from: Nutritional geometry of paternal effects on embryo mortality

Well-established causal links exist between maternal nutritional deficits
and embryo health and viability. By contrast, environmental effects
operating through the father that could influence embryo mortality have
seldom been examined. Yet, ejaculates can require non-trivial resource
allocation, and seminal plasma components are increasingly recognized to
exert wide-ranging effects on females and offspring, so paternal dietary
effects on the embryo should be expected. We test for effects of varying
levels of protein (P), carbohydrate (C) and caloric load in adult male
diet on embryo mortality in Drosophila melanogaster. We demonstrate that
macronutrient balance and caloric restriction exert significant effects,
and that nutritional effects are more impactful when a prior mating has
occurred. Once-mated males produced embryos with marginally elevated
mortality under high-caloric densities and a 1 : 8 P : C ratio. In
contrast, embryos produced by twice-mated males were significantly more
likely to die under male caloric restriction, an outcome that may have
resulted from shifts in ejaculate quality and/or epigenetic paternal
effects. Body nutrient reserves were strongly and predictably altered by
diet, and body condition, in turn, was negatively related to embryo
mortality. Thus, sire nutritional history and resultant shifts in
metabolic state predict embryo viability and post-fertilization fitness
outcomes.