Later developmental stages of Drosophila melanogaster acclimate and function better in response to thermal stress compared to early developmental stages.
Conference Year
January 2020
Abstract
Most species need to develop many complex organs and systems before they can live as independent adults. Solar thermal stress, provided during crucial developmental stages could disrupt the proper functioning and survival of individuals as adults. Many species utilize heat-shock proteins to resist different types of stress on the cellular level. Drosophila melanogaster acts as a model species and develops important structures like wings and heat resistance systems over time after embryogenesis. Moderate thermal stress applied to eggs one hour after laying caused many phenotypic consequences in adulthood. Flies with this treatment experienced a high proportion of deformed wings and many of the pupae failed to eclose into adults. It is expected that thermal stress applied during early embryonic stages disrupts the proper growth and functioning of flies and results in lasting phenotypic consequences. Later developmental stages have a more developed heat-response system and should acclimate better to thermal stress than early developmental stages and experience fewer lasting deleterious phenotypic effects. We focused on detecting and analyzing the impact of when thermal stress is applied to pre-adult flies and what impact that had on performance and phenotypic traits as adults. This was accomplished by placing flies in incubators with abnormal temperatures during later developmental stages, including 24 hours post laying, and concluding whether later developmental stages acclimated better to thermal stress than early developmental stages. When eggs were laid they were reared at 25℃ for 1 or 24 hours before being transferred to incubators that applied thermal stress that mimicked natural hyperthermia and hypothermia experienced in nature. 24 hour flies were found to have a greater proportion of properly developed wings, eclosed from pupae into adults at a higher proportion, and displayed superior upper and lower thermal limits than 1 hour flies. Later developmental stages acclimated better to moderate thermal stress and incurred fewer lasting phenotypic consequences as a result of that thermal stress compared to early developmental stages. By understanding how various developmental stages resisted the deleterious effects of thermal stress, we learned more about when crucial stages in development occur and when D. melanogaster’s ability to resist the effects of thermal stress becomes effective.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Sara Helms Cahan
Status
Undergraduate
Student College
College of Arts and Sciences
Program/Major
Biology
Primary Research Category
Biological Sciences
Later developmental stages of Drosophila melanogaster acclimate and function better in response to thermal stress compared to early developmental stages.
Most species need to develop many complex organs and systems before they can live as independent adults. Solar thermal stress, provided during crucial developmental stages could disrupt the proper functioning and survival of individuals as adults. Many species utilize heat-shock proteins to resist different types of stress on the cellular level. Drosophila melanogaster acts as a model species and develops important structures like wings and heat resistance systems over time after embryogenesis. Moderate thermal stress applied to eggs one hour after laying caused many phenotypic consequences in adulthood. Flies with this treatment experienced a high proportion of deformed wings and many of the pupae failed to eclose into adults. It is expected that thermal stress applied during early embryonic stages disrupts the proper growth and functioning of flies and results in lasting phenotypic consequences. Later developmental stages have a more developed heat-response system and should acclimate better to thermal stress than early developmental stages and experience fewer lasting deleterious phenotypic effects. We focused on detecting and analyzing the impact of when thermal stress is applied to pre-adult flies and what impact that had on performance and phenotypic traits as adults. This was accomplished by placing flies in incubators with abnormal temperatures during later developmental stages, including 24 hours post laying, and concluding whether later developmental stages acclimated better to thermal stress than early developmental stages. When eggs were laid they were reared at 25℃ for 1 or 24 hours before being transferred to incubators that applied thermal stress that mimicked natural hyperthermia and hypothermia experienced in nature. 24 hour flies were found to have a greater proportion of properly developed wings, eclosed from pupae into adults at a higher proportion, and displayed superior upper and lower thermal limits than 1 hour flies. Later developmental stages acclimated better to moderate thermal stress and incurred fewer lasting phenotypic consequences as a result of that thermal stress compared to early developmental stages. By understanding how various developmental stages resisted the deleterious effects of thermal stress, we learned more about when crucial stages in development occur and when D. melanogaster’s ability to resist the effects of thermal stress becomes effective.