Negligible Senescence during Reproductive Dormancy in<i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

Tatar, Marc; Chien, Susan A; Priest, Nicholas K.

doi:10.1086/321320

Cited by 149 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In contrast D . melanogaster show a somewhat shallow reproductive diapause (or quiescence) [35,36], and it has not been investigated whether this may increase cold tolerance in females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Costs and Benefits of Winter Acclimatization in Drosophila melanogaster

2015

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Studies on thermal acclimation in insects are often performed on animals acclimated in the laboratory under conditions that are not ecologically relevant. Costs and benefits of acclimation responses under such conditions may not reflect costs and benefits in natural populations subjected to daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations. Here we estimated costs and benefits in thermal tolerance limits in relation to winter acclimatization of Drosophila melanogaster. We sampled flies from a natural habitat during winter in Denmark (field flies) and compared heat and cold tolerance of these to that of flies collected from the same natural population, but acclimated to 25 °C or 13 °C in the laboratory (laboratory flies). We further obtained thermal performance curves for egg-to-adult viability of field and laboratory (25 °C) flies, to estimate possible cross-generational effects of acclimation. We found much higher cold tolerance and a lowered heat tolerance in field flies compared to laboratory flies reared at 25 °C. Flies reared in the laboratory at 13 °C exhibited the same thermal cost-benefit relations as the winter acclimatized flies. We also found a cost of winter acclimatization in terms of decreased egg-to-adult viability at high temperatures of eggs laid by winter acclimatized flies. Based on our findings we suggest that winter acclimatization in nature can induce strong benefits in terms of increased cold tolerance. These benefits can be reproduced in the laboratory under ecologically relevant rearing and testing conditions, and should be incorporated in species distribution modelling. Winter acclimatization also leads to decreased heat tolerance. This may create a mismatch between acclimation responses and the thermal environment, e.g. if temperatures suddenly increase during spring, under current and expected more variable future climatic conditions.

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“…In contrast D . melanogaster show a somewhat shallow reproductive diapause (or quiescence) [35,36], and it has not been investigated whether this may increase cold tolerance in females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong Costs and Benefits of Winter Acclimatization in Drosophila melanogaster

2015

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“…Small mammals use torpor to cope with sporadic or seasonal reductions in food energy availability. We suggest that, more generally, torpor and hibernation are part of a physiological state enhancing survival and maintenance of physiological condition over times of unfavourable environmental conditions, analogous to the 'waiting' state of reproductive dormancy in Drosophila [26]. Telomere dynamics provides a Table 1.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variation in telomere length of a hibernating rodent

et al. 2013

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Small hibernating rodents have greater maximum lifespans and hence appear to age more slowly than similar-sized non-hibernators. We tested for a direct effect of hibernation on somatic maintenance and ageing by measuring seasonal changes in relative telomere length (RTL) in the edible dormouse Glis glis. Average RTL in our population did not change significantly over the hibernation season, and a regression model explaining individual variation in post-hibernation RTL suggested a significant negative effect of the reduction in body mass over the inactive hibernation period (an index of time spent euthermic), supporting the idea that torpor slows ageing. Over the active season, RTL on average decreased in subadults but increased in adults, supporting previous findings of greater telomere shortening at younger ages. Telomere length increase might also have been associated with reproduction, which occurred only in adults. Our study reveals how seasonal changes in physiological state influence the progress of life-history traits, such as somatic maintenance and ageing, in a small hibernating rodent.

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“…During the actual diapause phase, metabolic activity is suppressed [21] and energy usage is transferred from costly tissues such as flight muscle [22] to more critical systems like the brain [23]. As a result, diapausing individuals are more stress-tolerant and live longer than non-diapausing ones [24,25]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcriptional Differences between Diapausing and Non-Diapausing D. montana Females Reared under the Same Photoperiod and Temperature

et al. 2016

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BackgroundA wide range of insects living at higher latitudes enter diapause at the end of the warm season, which increases their chances of survival through harsh winter conditions. In this study we used RNA sequencing to identify genes involved in adult reproductive diapause in a northern fly species, Drosophila montana. Both diapausing and non-diapausing flies were reared under a critical day length and temperature, where about half of the emerging females enter diapause enabling us to eliminate the effects of varying environmental conditions on gene expression patterns of the two types of female flies.ResultsRNA sequencing revealed large differences between gene expression patterns of diapausing and non-diapausing females, especially in genes involved with metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, and metal and nucleotide binding. Differently expressed genes included several gene groups, including myosin, actin and cytochromeP450 genes, which have been previously associated with diapause. This study also identified new candidate genes, including some involved in cuticular hydrocarbon synthesis or regulation (desat1 and desat2), and acyl-CoA Δ11-desaturase activity (CG9747), and few odorant-binding protein genes (e.g. Obp44A). Also, several transposable elements (TEs) showed differential expression between the two female groups motivating future research on their roles in diapause.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that the adult reproductive diapause in D. montana involves changes in the expression level of a variety of genes involved in key processes (e.g. metabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis) which help diapausing females to cope with overwintering. This is consistent with the view that diapause is a complex adaptive phenotype where not only sexual maturation is arrested, but also changes in adult physiology are required in order to survive over the winter.

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Negligible Senescence during Reproductive Dormancy inDrosophila melanogaster

Cited by 149 publications

References 43 publications

Strong Costs and Benefits of Winter Acclimatization in Drosophila melanogaster

Strong Costs and Benefits of Winter Acclimatization in Drosophila melanogaster

Seasonal variation in telomere length of a hibernating rodent

Transcriptional Differences between Diapausing and Non-Diapausing D. montana Females Reared under the Same Photoperiod and Temperature

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