A Study of Canalization and Developmental Stability in the Sternopleural Bristle System of Drosophila Melanogaster

PLASTICITY, CANALIZATION, AND DEVELOPMENTAL STABILITY OF THEDROSOPHILAWING: JOINT EFFECTS OF MUTATIONS AND DEVELOPMENTAL TEMPERATURE

“…Because no difference was detected, genetic canalization is apparently not affected by temperature. This result therefore suggests that it is possible to change environmental canalization with no effect on genetic canalization, in contradiction with the hypothesis of genetic canalization evolving as a byproduct of environmental canalization (e.g., Meiklejohn and Hartl 2002; but see Dworkin 2005 for a discussion). This result should nevertheless be considered with caution because the variation among 16 isogenic lines does not provide a very reliable estimator of genetic variation.…”

Host alkaloids differentially affect developmental stability and wing vein canalization in cactophilicDrosophila buzzatii

“…In addition, the types of anomalies found did not respond to a quantitative effect of the stressor, suggesting its expression as a result of cryptic genetic differences. This is in line with numerous studies that have documented an increase in phenotypic variation under stress, suggesting the release of cryptic genetic variation normally hidden during ordinary conditions but expressed when canalization systems are challenged (Badyaev, ; Dworkin, ). Indeed, ectopic wing veins commonly formed in specific genetic backgrounds have been related with atavisms, suggesting that Drosophila may retain information for additional veins (Blair, ).…”

“…Finally, given the confusion on the exact definition of the concepts and terms describing developmental stability, canalization and phenotypic plasticity, (Debat & David, ; Nijhout & Davidowitz, ; Dworkin, ), a definition of ‘robustness’ is needed to interpret our results. Although homoeostasis describes the maintenance of a constant physiological state, canalization refers to the ability of developmental processes to achieve a defined endpoint despite perturbations, even through an alternative route (Rutherford, ).…”

Deficiency Mapping of the Genomic Regions Associated With Effects on Developmental Stability in Drosophila Melanogaster

“…For metric traits, we measured shape [wing shape (WS)] and size [centroid size (CS)] components of wing morphology, which have been used to assess developmental buffering in several previous studies (Milton et al 2003; Breuker et al 2006; Debat et al 2006; Kellermann et al 2007). For meristic traits, we scored the following five bristle traits: the number of sternopleural (SP), scutellar (SC), thoracic (TH), ocellar (OC), and orbital (OR) bristles, which have also been used to assess developmental buffering (Bubliy et al 2000; Dworkin 2005; Milton et al 2005). We sampled up to three males and three females of each of the deficiency heterozygote per replication and scored the five bristle traits on the right and left sides of each fly.…”