Neuronal function and dopamine signaling evolve at high temperature in Drosophila

Abstract

How do these results from laboratory evolution relate to natural populations? There are latitudinal allele frequency clines of genes encoding neuronally expressed dopamine receptors (Dop1R1, Dop2R, DopEcR) and transporters (DAT and VMAT) in natural populations of Drosophila and Anopheles 20-24 ( Supplementary Table 11). This strongly argues that the evolution of temperature-dependent neuronal dopamine signaling is not a laboratory artefact but a common response of insects to selection at high temperatures in nature. We propose that the evolutionary response of dopamine signaling to elevated temperatures is an important step to mitigate the deleterious impact of temperature change. Assuming that the pleiotropic architecture differs between species, we anticipate an increase in phenotypic divergence across species for different traits regulated by dopamine, such as pigmentation, locomotion, courtship and other behaviors [25][26][27] . Ple Ddc K + channel E Voltagegated K + channel s Voltagegated Ca 2+ channels Presynaptic active zone SNARE complex