Wolbachia has subtle effects on thermal preference in highly inbred Drosophila melanogaster which vary with life stage and environmental conditions.

ABSTRACT: Temperature fluctuations are challenging for ectotherms which are not able to regulate body temperature by physiological means and thus have to adjust their thermal environment via behavior. However, little is yet known about whether microbial symbionts influence thermal preference (T_p) in ectotherms by modulating their physiology. Several recent studies have demonstrated substantial effects of Wolbachia infections on host T_p in different Drosophila species. These data indicate that the direction and strength of thermal preference variation is strongly dependent on host and symbiont genotypes and highly variable among studies. By employing highly controlled experiments, we investigated the impact of several environmental factors including humidity, food quality, light

SUBMITTER: Strunov A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10447536 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature