Costs of cold acclimation on survival and reproductive behavior in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Fitness is determined by the ability of an organism to both survive and reproduce; however, the mechanisms that lead to increased survival may not have the same effect on reproductive success. We used nineteen natural Drosophila melanogaster genotypes from the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel to determine if adaptive plasticity following short-term acclimation through rapid cold-hardening (RCH) affects mating behavior and mating success. We confirmed that exposure to the acclimation temperature is beneficial to survival following cold stress; however, we found that this same acclimation temperature exposure led to less efficient male courtship and a significant decrease in the likelihood of mating. Cold tolerance and the capacity to respond plastically to cold stress were not correlated

SUBMITTER: Everman ER 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5965859 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature