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The impact of anaesthetic technique on survival and fertility in Drosophila
Author(s) -
CHAMPION DE CRESPIGNY FLEUR E.,
WEDELL NINA
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
physiological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-3032
pISSN - 0307-6962
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3032.2008.00632.x
Subject(s) - biology , fertility , drosophila melanogaster , drosophila (subgenus) , melanogaster , zoology , demography , genetics , population , gene , sociology
The consequences of ice and carbon dioxide anaesthetics on the survival and reproductive success of Drosophila simulans and Drosophila melanogaster were investigated after observations of high levels of mortality in D. simulans , possibly associated with brief chill coma. The association between brief chill coma and death is confirmed in female D. simulans but there is no mortality in male D. simulans or D. melanogaster of either sex. Mortality is unlikely to be associated with a strain specific cold intolerance because two geographically distinct populations of D. simulans were examined. In addition to the effect of ice anaesthesia, anaesthetizing newly‐eclosed male D. simulans with CO 2 causes a reduction in fertility, which is evident 9–13 days after anaesthesia. This finding is important given that CO 2 anaesthesia is a standard technique used in Drosophila and other insect cultures, and may have important consequences for studies of male fertility and sperm competition.