Figure 6

Cholesterol supplementation disproportionally benefits Atad3 mutant flies. Flies were maintained on a standard diet (SD) or a modified diet (MD) with or without cholesterol (Chl). (A) Each point indicates the number of control pupae and adults from crosses of flies that carry the UAS construct without a transgene (UAS-empty) and the ey-Gal4 driver. Pupae: differences between groups were analysed by unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t-test (SD versus MD, *P = 0.025; SD versus MD+Chl, *P = 0.022; MD versus MD+Chl, non-significant P = 0.058). Adults: Differences between groups were analysed by unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t-test (SD versus MD, ***P = 0.0003) and unpaired, two-tailed Mann-Whitney U-test (SD versus MD+Chl, non-significant P = 0.057; MD versus MD+Chl, non-significant P = 0.0571). (B) Number of pupae and adults from crosses of flies that carry the UAS-dAtad3^R472C transgene (dAtad3^R472C) and the ey-Gal4 driver. Pupae: Differences between groups were analysed by unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t-test (SD versus MD, ***P = 0.0003; SD versus MD+Chl, *P = 0.032; MD versus MD+Chl, ***P = 9.38 × 10⁻⁷). Adults: differences between groups were analysed by unpaired, two-tailed Student’s t-test (SD versus MD, ***P = 0.0007; SD versus MD+Chl, *P = 0.022; MD versus MD+Chl, **P = 0.003). n = 3 or 4 independent experiments. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. (C) Top: The complete life cycle of the fly. Bottom: The major developmental stages that are impeded by Atad3^R472C raised on the modified diet (MD) and that are mitigated by cholesterol supplementation.