Amino acid catabolism and mitochondrial shifts support increased longevity in the seed beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Holometabolous insects often undergo a metabolic shift as adults due to feeding cessation. In the seed beetle Acanthoscelides obtectus, which enters a post-larval starvation phase, metabolic strategies are key to survival and longevity. This study contrasts two experimental evolution lines with divergent life histories: a short-lived, early-reproducing line (E, ~7 days) and a long-lived, late-reproducing line (L, ~15 days). Targeted metabolomics revealed significant differences in amino acid metabolism between the two A. obtectus lines. Notably, amino acid concentrations were consistently lower in the long-lived L line than in the E line across all ages, with this distinction evident as early as day 1. This suggests a sustained, higher rate of amino acid catabolism in L beetles, potentially providing an alternative energy source to compensate for reduced complex I activity and the absence of fatty acid oxidation. Furthermore, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates indicated line-specific mitochondrial adaptations. Higher succinate-to-fumarate ratio observed at day 1 in L beetles suggests increased complex II activity, which could offset the lowered complex I activity. These metabolomic findings strongly corroborate previous respirometry data, supporting metabolic rewiring in L beetles that favours alternative electron entry points into the mitochondrial electron transport system. Our results highlight that metabolic plasticity, driven by enhanced amino acid catabolism and altered TCA cycle flux, is critical for extending survival in the L line. These adaptations provide insights into bioenergetic mechanisms governing lifespan in insects and highlight how mitochondrial remodelling contributes to the evolution of different ageing patterns.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".