Potential Synergistic Effects of Temperature and Wolbachia on the Morphology of Drosophila Melanogaster

Xinyu Zhang

doi:10.54097/7ky1va89

Authors

Xinyu Zhang

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/7ky1va89

Keywords:

Drosophila melanogaster, wolbachia, temperature, morphology

Abstract

This study investigates the combined effects of Wolbachia infection and temperature on the wing morphology of Drosophila melanogaster, focusing on size, shape, and their potential heritability across generations. Utilizing a self-reproducing line of Drosophila, F1 flies were reared at four different temperatures (18°C, 25°C, 27.5°C, and 29°C), and wing morphology was analyzed using geometric morphometrics. Significant effects of temperature and Wolbachia infection on both wing size and shape were observed in the F1 generation, with larger wings and cells at lower temperatures and smaller wings at higher temperatures for Wolbachia-infected flies. These findings were consistent with previous studies on thermal plasticity and symbiont-host interactions. However, in the F2 generation, the wing size differences were not retained, while wing shape variation persisted, indicating that temperature and Wolbachia's combined effects on size were not heritable under normalized conditions. The study suggests a more complex inheritance pattern for wing shape, with environmental factors likely playing a key role in both size and shape changes. Future research should explore the molecular mechanisms underlying these interactions, particularly the role of Wolbachia density and gene expression in shaping morphological traits.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Rosenzweig, C., Karoly, D., Vicarelli, M., Neofotis, P., Wu, Q. G., Casassa, G., Menzel, A., Root, T. L., Estrella, N., Seguin, B., & others. (2008). Attributing physical and biological impacts to anthropogenic climate change. Nature, 453, 353-357. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06937.

[2] Hua, F. Y., Hu, J. H., Liu, Y., Giam, X. L., Lee, T. M., Luo, H., Wu, J., Liang, Q. Y., Zhao, J., Long, X. Y., & others. (2016). Community-wide changes in intertaxonomic temporal co-occurrence resulting from phenological shifts. Global Change Biology, 22(5), 1746-1754. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13199.

[3] Ficetola, G. F., Colleoni, E., Renaud, J., Scali, S., Padoa-Schioppa, E., & Thuiller, W. (2016). Morphological variation in salamanders and their potential response to climate change. Global Change Biology, 22(6), 2013-2024. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13255.

[4] Darwin, C. (1859). On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. John Murray.

[5] Beckingham KM, Armstrong JD, Texada MJ, Munjaal R, Baker DA. Drosophila melanogaster--the model organism of choice for the complex biology of multi-cellular organisms. Gravit Space Biol Bull. 2005 Jun;18(2):17-29. PMID: 16038090.

[6] Tolwinski NS. Introduction: Drosophila-A Model System for Developmental Biology. J Dev Biol. 2017 Sep 20;5(3):9. doi: 10.3390/jdb5030009. PMID: 29615566; PMCID: PMC5831767.

[7] Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies. (2016). Drosophila – A model organism for assessment of biodiversity. Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 4(3).

[8] Martino ME, Ma D, Leulier F. Microbial influence on Drosophila biology. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2017 Aug;38:165-170. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2017.06.004. Epub 2017 Jun 29. PMID: 28668769.

[9] Riegler M, Sidhu M, Miller WJ, O'Neill SL. Evidence for a global Wolbachia replacement in Drosophila melanogaster. Curr Biol. 2005 Aug 9;15(15):1428-33. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2005.06.069. PMID: 16085497.

[10] Komiya Y, Habas R. Wnt signal transduction pathways. Organogenesis. 2008 Apr;4(2):68-75. doi: 10.4161/org.4.2.5851. PMID: 19279717; PMCID: PMC2634250.

[11] Loh R, David JR, Debat V, Bitner-Mathá BC. Adaptation to different climates results in divergent phenotypic plasticity of wing size and shape in an invasive drosophilid. J Genet. 2008 Dec;87(3):209-17. doi: 10.1007/s12041-008-0034-2. PMID: 19147905.

[12] Gilchrist AS, Azevedo RB, Partridge L, O'Higgins P. Adaptation and constraint in the evolution of Drosophila melanogaster wing shape. Evol Dev. 2000 Mar-Apr;2(2):114-24. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-142x.2000.00041.x. PMID: 11258389.

[13] Rueden, C. T., Schindelin, J., Hiner, M. C., DeZonia, B. E., Walter, A. E., Arena, E. T., & Eliceiri, K. W. (2017). ImageJ2: ImageJ for the next generation of scientific image data. BMC Bioinformatics, 18(1). doi:10.1186/s12859-017-1934-z.

[14] Baab KL, McNulty KP, Rohlf FJ. The shape of human evolution: a geometric morphometrics perspective. Evol Anthropol. 2012 Jul-Aug;21(4):151-65. doi: 10.1002/evan.21320. PMID: 22907868.

[15] Kim HY. Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)-exploring possible interaction between factors. Restor Dent Endod. 2014 May;39(2):143-7. doi: 10.5395/rde.2014. 39.2.143. PMID: 24790929; PMCID: PMC3978106.

[16] Alpatov, W.W. (1930). Phenotypical variation in body and cell size of Drosophila melanogaster. Biological Bulletin, 58, 85-103.

[17] Masry, A.M., & Robertson, F.W. (1979). Cell size and number in the Drosophila wing. III. The influence of temperature differences during development. Egyptian Journal of Genetics and Cytology, 8, 71-79.

[18] Ross, A. (2004). Procrustes analysis. Course report, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of South Carolina.

[19] Goodall, C. (1991). Procrustes methods in the statistical analysis of shape. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodological), 53(2), 285-339.

[20] Palmer, A. Richard, & Strobeck, C. (1992). Fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of developmental stability: Implications of non-normal distributions and power of statistical tests. Acta Zoologica Fennica, 191, 57-72.

[21] Gavotte L, Mercer DR, Vandyke R, Mains JW, Dobson SL. Wolbachia infection and resource competition effects on immature Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae). J Med Entomol. 2009 May;46(3):451-9. doi: 10.1603/033.046.0306. PMID: 19496412; PMCID: PMC2719795.

[22] Gidaszewski NA, Baylac M, Klingenberg CP. Evolution of sexual dimorphism of wing shape in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup. BMC Evol Biol. 2009 May 20;9:110. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-9-110. PMID: 19457235; PMCID: PMC2691407.

[23] Guilhot, R., Rombaut, A., Xuéreb, A., Howell, K., & Fellous, S. (2020). Environmental specificity in Drosophila-bacteria symbiosis affects host developmental plasticity. Evolutionary Ecology, 34, 693–712.

[24] Parsons, P.A. (1991). Evolutionary rates: Stress and species boundaries. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 22, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.22.110191.000245

[25] Hoffmann, A.A., & Hercus, M.J. (2000). Environmental Stress as an Evolutionary Force. Bioscience, 50(3), 217-226. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2000)050[0217:ESAAEF]2.3.CO;2

[26] Christensen S, Camacho M, Sharmin Z, Momtaz AJMZ, Perez L, Navarro G, Triana J, Samarah H, Turelli M, Serbus LR. Quantitative methods for assessing local and bodywide contributions to Wolbachia titer in maternal germline cells of Drosophila. BMC Microbiol. 2019 Sep 3;19(1):206. doi: 10.1186/s12866-019-1579-3. PMID: 31481018; PMCID: PMC6724367.

[27] Gutzwiller F, Carmo CR, Miller DE, Rice DW, Newton IL, Hawley RS, Teixeira L, Bergman CM. Dynamics of Wolbachia pipientis Gene Expression Across the Drosophila melanogaster Life Cycle. G3 (Bethesda). 2015 Oct 23;5(12):2843-56. doi: 10.1534/g3.115.021931. PMID: 26497146; PMCID: PMC4683655.