Maternal loading of a small heat shock protein increases embryo thermal tolerance in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Maternal investment is likely to have direct effects on offspring survival. In oviparous animals whose embryos are exposed to the external environment, maternal provisioning of molecular factors like mRNAs and proteins may help embryos cope with sudden changes in the environment. Here, we sought to modify the maternal mRNA contribution to offspring embryos and test for maternal effects on acute thermal tolerance in early embryos of Drosophila melanogaster We drove in vivo overexpression of a small heat shock protein gene (Hsp23) in female ovaries and measured the effects of acute thermal stress on offspring embryonic survival and larval development. We report that overexpression of the Hsp23 gene in female ovaries produced offspring embryos with increased therma

SUBMITTER: Lockwood BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5769566 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature