Lack of alignment across yeast-dependent life-history traits may limit Drosophila melanogaster dietary specialization.

ABSTRACT: Heterogeneity in food resources is a major driver of local adaptation and speciation. Dietary specialization typically involves multiple life-history traits and may thus be limited by the extent to which these traits adapt in concert. Here, we use Drosophila melanogaster, representing an intermediate state in the generalist-specialist continuum, to explore the scope for dietary specialization. D. melanogaster has a close association with yeast, an essential but heterogeneous food resource. We quantify how different D. melanogaster strains from around the globe respond to different yeast species, across multiple yeast-dependent life-history traits including feeding, mating, egg-laying, egg development and survival. We find that D. melanogaster strains respond to different yeast species in d

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9540990 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature