Temperature-size rule is mediated by thermal plasticity of critical size in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Most ectotherms show an inverse relationship between developmental temperature and body size, a phenomenon known as the temperature-size rule (TSR). Several competing hypotheses have been proposed to explain its occurrence. According to one set of views, the TSR results from inevitable biophysical effects of temperature on the rates of growth and differentiation, whereas other views suggest the TSR is an adaptation that can be achieved by a diversity of mechanisms in different taxa. Our data reveal that the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, obeys the TSR using a novel mechanism: reduction in critical size at higher temperatures. In holometabolous insects, attainment of critical size initiates the hormonal cascade that terminates growth, and hence, Drosophila larvae appear to instigate the

SUBMITTER: Ghosh SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3652456 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature