A multi-nutrient array protocol to study disease-diet interactions in Drosophila melanogaster

The availability of a defined fully synthetic diet for the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster allows for complete and precise manipulation of its nutritional environment. Here, we present a protocol for performing large-scale multivariate nutrient analysis via the traditional diet preparation approach, or by adding nutrient solutions to a baseline medium. We detail procedures from sample collection to data analysis. This protocol has applications for the study of nutrition-life trait interactions and nutrigenomics, to reveal interactions between genotype and diet composition.