Interspecies variation of larval locomotion kinematics in the genus Drosophila and its relation to habitat temperature

Abstract

Background Speed and trajectory of locomotion are the characteristic traits of individual species. Locomotion kinematics may have been shaped during evolution towards increased survival in the habitats of each species. Although kinematics of locomotion is thought to be influenced by habitats, the quantitative relation between the kinematics and environmental factors has not been fully revealed. Here, we performed comparative analyses of larval locomotion in 11 Drosophila species. Results We found that larval locomotion kinematics are divergent among the species. The diversity is not correlated to the body length but is correlated instead to the habitat temperature of the species. Phylogenetic analyses using Bayesian inference suggest that the evolutionary rate of the kinematics is diverse among phylogenetic tree branches. Conclusions The results of this study imply that the kinematics of larval locomotion has diverged in the evolutionary history of the genus Drosophila and evolved under the effects of the ambient temperature of habitats.

Comparative analysis of temperature preference behavior and effects of temperature on daily behavior in 11 Drosophila species

“…To understand the extent of species-specific characteristics maintenance in laboratory strains and the presence of intraspecific variation in certain Drosophila species, we need to comparatively analyze many different strains, including freshly-established different local strains and other laboratory-maintained strains. Previously, the laboratory strains of 11 Drosophila species have been used for comparative studies of the embryonic development and the larval locomotor behavior 33 , 34 . Interestingly, the correlation between species-specific characteristics and their natural habitats has been reported with the laboratory strains 34 .…”

“…Previously, the laboratory strains of 11 Drosophila species have been used for comparative studies of the embryonic development and the larval locomotor behavior 33 , 34 . Interestingly, the correlation between species-specific characteristics and their natural habitats has been reported with the laboratory strains 34 . Therefore, the experimental results using laboratory strains, including our study, should be valuable benchmarks for future comparative analyses in understanding the exact species-specific characteristics and adaptations.…”

A neuromechanical model for Drosophila larval crawling based on physical measurements

“…We noticed that this observation could allow us to predict neural circuits for fly larval crawling. A recent study reported an inter-specific variation in crawling speed among eleven species in the genus Drosophila [ 57 ]. This study showed that some sister species crawled faster than Drosophila melanogaster , and the others locomoted slower.…”

“…12 ). To compensate the difference in experimental conditions between this study and Matsuo et al [ 57 ], the speed of each species was normalized by the speed of Drosophila melanogaster . To analyse the dependency on w En , the dependency of w ES was averaged out from Fig.…”

“…The average and standard error mean of speed in species in the genus Drosophila are shown by solid lines and shaded areas, respectively. The speed data was calculated from the data in [ 57 ]. The 11 Drosophila ( D. , hereafter) species consisted of D. ananassae (ana), D. erecta (ere), D. mauritiana (mau), D. melanogaster (mel), D. mojavensis (moj), D. persimilis (per), D. pseudoobscula (pse), D. sechellia (sec), D. virilis (vir), D. willistoni (wil), and D. yakuba (yak) …”