Effects of developmental plasticity on heat tolerance may be mediated by changes in cell size in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: There is a growing interest in the physiology underpinning heat tolerance of ectotherms and their responses to the ongoing rise in temperature. However, there is no consensus about the underlying physiological mechanisms. According to "the maintain aerobic scope and regulate oxygen supply" hypothesis, responses to warming at different organizational levels contribute to the ability to safeguard energy metabolism via aerobic pathways. At the cellular level, a decrease in cell size increases the capacity for the uptake of resources (e.g., food and oxygen), but the maintenance of electrochemical gradients across cellular membranes implies greater energetic costs in small cells. In this study, we investigated how different rearing temperatures affected cell size and heat tolerance in the fruit

SUBMITTER: Verspagen N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7687148 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature