Succinate oxidation rescues mitochondrial ATP synthesis at high temperature in Drosophila melanogaster.

Decreased NADH-induced and increased FADH 2 -induced respiration rates at high temperatures are associated with thermal tolerance in Drosophila. Here, we determined if this change was associated with adjustments of ATP production rate and coupling efficiency (ATP/O) in Drosophila melanogaster. We show that decreased pyruvate+malate oxidation at 35°C is associated with a collapse of ATP synthesis and a drop in ATP/O ratio. However, adding succinate triggered a full compensation of both oxygen consumption and ATP synthesis rates at this high temperature. Addition of glycerol-3-phosphate led to a huge increase in respiration with no further advantage in terms of ATP production. We conclude that succinate is the only alternative substrate able to compensate both oxygen consumption and ATP production rates during oxidative phosphorylation at high temperature, which has important implications for thermal adaptation.