Ant workers die young and colonies collapse when fed a high-protein diet
Ant workers die young and colonies collapse when fed a high-protein diet
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2012.0051
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发表时间：
2012-06-22
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Simpson, S. J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dussutour, A.;Simpson, S. J.
饮食和长寿之间关系的一个关键决定因素是饮食中蛋白质和碳水化合物的平衡。相对于碳水化合物，摄入过多的蛋白质会缩短独居昆虫的寿命。在这里，我们调查了高蛋白饮食和寿命之间的联系，无论是在单个蚂蚁的水平上，还是在黑色花园蚂蚁的群体水平上。我们探索了饮食中蛋白质与碳水化合物的比例和接触高蛋白饮食的时间是如何影响寿命的。我们发现：(1)限制高蛋白、低碳水化合物饮食会使工蚁寿命减少多达10倍；(2)这种饮食的寿命缩短主要是由于蛋白质摄入量增加，而不是碳水化合物的缺乏；(3)仅仅一天的高蛋白饮食对工蚁和蜂群造成了可怕的后果，使种群数量减少了20%以上。
A key determinant of the relationship between diet and longevity is the balance of protein and carbohydrate in the diet. Eating excess protein relative to carbohydrate shortens lifespan in solitary insects. Here, we investigated the link between high-protein diet and longevity, both at the level of individual ants and colonies in black garden ants, Lasius niger. We explored how lifespan was affected by the dietary protein-to-carbohydrate ratio and the duration of exposure to a high-protein diet. We show that (i) restriction to high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets decreased worker lifespan by up to 10-fold; (ii) reduction in lifespan on such diets was mainly due to elevated intake of protein rather than lack of carbohydrate; and (iii) only one day of exposure to a high-protein diet had dire consequences for workers and the colony, reducing population size by more than 20 per cent.