Fig. 2: OE^ts>Desat1^RNAi flies exhibit altered lipid profiles and higher sensitivity to starvation and cold stress.

a, b OE^ts>Desat1^RNAi adult flies show higher starvation sensitivity at 29°C compared with OE^ts> Control^RNAi flies in both male and female, n = 270 in female flies and n = 238 in male flies. P value was calculated using Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. c OE^ts>Desat1^RNAi adult female flies show no different in lifetime during starvation compared with control group at 18°C, n = 113. P value was calculated using Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. d Both OE^ts>Desat1^RNAi adult female and male flies show a better recovery from cold exposure. 24 h cold exposure for male adult flies and 48 h for female flies, n ≈ 217 for male, n ≈ 270 for female. P value was calculated using two-sided Chi-square, ****(P < 1 × 10⁻¹⁵): female OE^ts>Desat1^RNAi vs. OE^ts>Control^RNAi flies, ^####(P < 1 × 10⁻¹⁵): male OE^ts> Desat1^RNAi vs. OE^ts>Control^RNAi flies. e, f Subspecies lipid analysis (diacylglycerol (DAG) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE)) of hemolymph samples between Desat1 KD and control groups in fed or starvation conditions, n = 3. Statistical tests: multiple two-tailed unpaired t tests. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; ****, P < 0.0001. g, h The number of double bonds in triacylglycerol (TAG) and GLP (glycerophospholipids) from flies’ samples in fed or starvation conditions, n = 3. Statistical tests: two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ****, P < 0.0001. i, j Changes in the percentage of different chain lengths of DAG and PE in hemolymph during starvation, n = 3. Statistical tests: two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. ^#: OE^ts>Desat1^RNAi flies at day 3 of starvation vs. OE^ts>Control^RNAi flies at day 3 of starvation. *: OE^ts>Control^RNAi flies at day 3 or day 6 of starvation vs. OE^ts>Control^RNAi flies at feed condition. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; ***, P < 0.0001. ^##, P < 0.01; ^###, P < 0.001; ^####, P < 0.0001. Error bars indicate standard deviation. Data in (a–c) are presented as mean values ± SEM. Data in (e–j) are presented as mean values ± SD. Source data for plots and exact p-value are provided as a source data file, e created in BioRender. Li, J. (2025) (https://BioRender.com/5t3oi9n) is licensed under CC BY 4.0.