Researchers identified a hormone-like peptide called CG14075, or Marmite, that regulates energy stores in fruit flies during starvation, according to a study published in Nature Communications. The corpora cardiaca of Drosophila melanogaster releases the peptide into the haemolymph during prolonged nutrient deprivation, coinciding with the depletion of internal glycogen and lipid reserves.
CG14075 drives amino acid catabolism, producing marked effects on threonine and branched-chain amino acid metabolism. Flies lacking the peptide accumulate excess amino acids, a condition tied directly to oxidative stress.
The factor operates alongside adipokinetic hormone, a lipid-catabolic glucagon-like molecule, to manage metabolic shifts under starvation stress. When flies lose CG14075, their systems consume glycogen and lipids at an accelerated rate and show diminished survival under nutrient deprivation. These changes stem partly from increased secretion of adipokinetic hormone.
Research teams led by Yuto Yoshinari, Takashi Nishimura, and Ryusuke Niwa carried out the work across Gunma University, the University of Tsukuba, Kumamoto University, and the University of California, Riverside. Experiments relied on equipment at Gunma University's Biosignal Genome Resource Center, alongside stocks from the Drosophila Genomics Resource Center, the Bloomington Stock Center, the NIG-FLY Stock Center, and the Vienna Drosophila Resource Center. Funding came from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under KAKENHI grant 23K14227, the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, the Mitsubishi Foundation, and the Takeda Science Foundation. The journal accepted the paper on August 31, 2026, following its initial submission on September 2, 2025.
