The effect of the whey protein supplement on the sex ratio in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Dietary composition is one of the important external environmental factors that affects many aspects of animal physiology, including growth and development, stress resistance, survivability, reproductive fitness and also alters the sex ratio. The present study aims to investigate the impact of whey protein on the sex ratio in Drosophila melanogaster flies by culturing the flies in wheat cream agar, whey protein treated media, and mixed media. The results showed that the female offspring are produced more than the male offspring in all three diets. The mixed diet produced more female offspring compared to the other two diets. There is a much greater difference in sex ratio observed in wheat cream agar media compared to treated and mixed media, where an average difference is observed. Thus, suggests that the whey protein increases the female offsprings suggesting nutritional dietary components in the food alters offspring sex ratio in D. melanogaster.