scholarly journals Developmental plasticity evolved according to specialist–generalist trade-offs in experimental populations of Drosophila melanogaster

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 20160379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Le Vinh Thuy ◽  
John M. VandenBrooks ◽  
Michael J. Angilletta

We studied the evolution of developmental plasticity in populations of Drosophila melanogaster that evolved at either constant or fluctuating temperatures. Consistent with theory, genotypes that evolved at a constant 16°C or 25°C performed best when raised and tested at that temperature. Genotypes that evolved at fluctuating temperatures performed well at either temperature, but only when raised and tested at the same temperature. Our results confirm evolutionary patterns predicted by theory, including a loss of plasticity and a benefit of specialization in constant environments.

Author(s):  
Maren N. Vitousek ◽  
Laura A. Schoenle

Hormones mediate the expression of life history traits—phenotypic traits that contribute to lifetime fitness (i.e., reproductive timing, growth rate, number and size of offspring). The endocrine system shapes phenotype by organizing tissues during developmental periods and by activating changes in behavior, physiology, and morphology in response to varying physical and social environments. Because hormones can simultaneously regulate many traits (hormonal pleiotropy), they are important mediators of life history trade-offs among growth, reproduction, and survival. This chapter reviews the role of hormones in shaping life histories with an emphasis on developmental plasticity and reversible flexibility in endocrine and life history traits. It also discusses the advantages of studying hormone–behavior interactions from an evolutionary perspective. Recent research in evolutionary endocrinology has provided insight into the heritability of endocrine traits, how selection on hormone systems may influence the evolution of life histories, and the role of hormonal pleiotropy in driving or constraining evolution.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-258
Author(s):  
Sergei Kopyl ◽  
Leonid Omelyanchuk

AbstractEctopic eyes induced in a wing serve as a system for studying developmental plasticity in Drosophila. We used a set of chromosome deficiencies covering the second chromosome to ask whether there are dose-sensitive modifiers of the process. We identified three overlapping deletions showing the enlargement of ectopic eyes. The study of the genes localized in the region of interest suggests that the mutation in the sxc (super sex combs) gene (PcG group) is responsible for the observed phenotype.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didem P. Sarikaya ◽  
Katherine Rickelton ◽  
Julie M. Cridland ◽  
Ryan Hatmaker ◽  
Hayley K. Sheehy ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan R Glass ◽  
Zachary R Stahlschmidt

Abstract Complex environments, characterized by co-varying factors (e.g. temperature and food availability) may cause animals to invest resources differentially into fitness-related traits. Thus, experiments manipulating multiple environmental factors concurrently provide valuable insight into the role of the environment in shaping not only important traits (e.g. dispersal capacity or reproduction), but also trait–trait interactions (e.g. trade-offs between traits). We used a multi-factorial design to manipulate variation in temperature (constant 28 °C vs. 28 ± 5 °C daily cycle) and food availability (unlimited vs. intermittent access) throughout development in the sand field cricket (Gryllus firmus). Using a univariate approach, we found that temperature variability and unlimited food availability promoted survival, development, growth, body size and/or reproductive investment. Using principal components as indices of resource allocation strategy, we found that temperature variability and unlimited food reduced investment into flight capacity in females. Thus, we detected a sex-specific trade-off between flight and other life-history traits that was developmentally plastic in response to variation in temperature and food availability. We develop an experimental and statistical framework to reveal shifts in correlative patterns of investment into different life-history traits. This approach can be applied to a range of biological systems to investigate how environmental complexity influences traits and trait trade-offs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Indrikis A. Krams ◽  
Ronalds Krams ◽  
Priit Jõers ◽  
Māris Munkevics ◽  
Giedrius Trakimas ◽  
...  

Abstract The elemental composition of organisms belongs to a suite of functional traits that change during development in response to environmental conditions. However, associations between adaptive variations in developmental speed and elemental body composition are not well understood. We compared body mass, elemental body composition, food uptake and fat metabolism of Drosophila melanogaster male fruit flies in relation to their larval development speed. Slowly developing flies had higher body carbon concentration than rapidly developing and intermediate flies. Rapidly developing flies had the highest body nitrogen concentration, while slowly developing flies had higher body nitrogen levels than flies with intermediate speed of development. The carbon-to-nitrogen ratio was therefore lower in rapidly developing flies than in slow and intermediate flies. We also had a group of flies grown individually and their body mass and elemental body composition were similar to those of rapidly developing individuals grown in groups. This suggests that rapid growth is not suppressed by stress. Feeding rates were lowest in the slowly developing flies. The amount of triacylglycerides was highest in the flies with intermediate developmental speed which optimizes development under many climatic conditions. Although low food intake slows down developmental speed and the accumulation of body fat reserves in slowly developing flies, their phenotype conceivably facilitates survival under higher stochasticity of their environments. Rapidly developing flies grew with less emphasis on storage build-up. Overall, this study shoes that a combination of bet-hedging, adaptive tracking and developmental plasticity enables fruit flies to respond adaptively to environmental uncertainty.


Evolution ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam K. Chippindale ◽  
Terence J. F. Chu ◽  
Michael R. Rose

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