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EVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF BODY SIZE AND CELL SIZE IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER IN RESPONSE TO TEMPERATURE
Author(s) -
Partridge Linda,
Barrie Brian,
Fowler Kevin,
French Ver
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1994.tb05311.x
Subject(s) - biology , drosophila melanogaster , wing , phenotypic plasticity , evolutionary biology , cell size , drosophila (subgenus) , evolutionary developmental biology , ecology , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , engineering , aerospace engineering
We examined the evolutionary and developmental responses of body size to temperature in Drosophila melanogaster , using replicated lines of flies that had been allowed to evolve for 5 yr at 25°C or at 16.5°C. Development and evolution at the lower temperature both resulted in higher thorax length and wing area. The evolutionary effect of temperature on wing area was entirely a consequence of an increase in cell area. The developmental response was mainly attributable to an increase in cell area, with a small effect on cell number in males. Given its similarity to the evolutionary response, the increase in body size and cell size resulting from development at low temperature may be a case of adaptive phenotypic plasticity. The pattern of plasticity did not evolve in response to temperature for any of the traits. The selective advantage of the evolutionary and developmental responses to temperature is obscure and remains a major challenge for future work.