Adaptive significance of amylase polymorphism in drosophila, XV: Examination of genotype-by-environment interactions on the viability, developmental time and stability of drosophila subobscura homozygous for Amy during exposure to nutritional changes

Abstract

Due to the direct interaction between enzyme and substrate, the amylase system can provide valuable information on the relationship between homozygosity and developmental homeostasis under a changing environment in several Drosophila species, The adaptive significance of the relationship between genetic variability and environmental change manifests through the well-known polymorphism of the amylase locus (Amy). We examined the effect of gradual and abrupt changes in starch concentration in the nutritional substrate, on the developmental time, egg-to-adult viability and phenotypic plasticity in the progeny of Drosophila subobscura that was homozygous for “fast” (AmyF/AmyF) and “slow” (AmyS/AmyS) Amy alleles. Our findings show that gradual and abrupt nutritional changes exert a significant effect on developmental time and viability. A high heterogeneity among genotypes in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and no direct association between FA and fitness components under the two experimental regimes of environmental change were observed

The impact of extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (50Hz, 0.25 mT) on fitness components and wing traits of Drosophila subobscura

“…Wing size is a complex quantitative trait, with generally low heritability, highly sensitive to the environment, observable in significant genotype-environment interaction. Various environmental factors, like temperature (PARTRIDGE et al, 1994;NUNNEY and CHEUNG, 1997;FRENCH et al, 1998), oxygen levels (PECK and MADDRELL, 2005), infection (DIANGELO et al, 2009), larval crowding (LEFRANC and BUNDGAARD, 2000;IMASHEVA and BUBLIY, 2003) and nutrition (IMASHEVA et al, 1999;SAVIĆ et al, 2011;VIJENDRAVARMA et al, 2011) induce alterations in the growth and affect morphometric traits. In Drosophila, the final body size is regulated by the rate and duration of growth mostly in the larval but also in pupal stages.…”

“…Insect wing provides a convenient measure of structural body size, and a developing Drosophila wing provides an excellent genetic and cell biological system. Changes in the mean, variance, and developmental instability of morphological traits, especially the wing, have been commonly used to detect environmental stress in Drosophila (STAMENKOVIĆ-RADAK et al, 2008a;KURBALIJA et al, 2010a;SAVIĆ et al, 2011;KURBALIJA NOVIČIĆ et al, 2012). Genetic or environmental factors can alter symmetry, and the asymmetry of organs that normally show bilateral symmetry, like insect wings, can be a consequence of a disturbed developmental process, due to various types of genomic or environmental stress (PARSONS, 1992;HOFFMANN et al, 2005).…”