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Experimental evolution on heat tolerance and thermal performance curves under contrasting thermal selection in Drosophila subobscura
Author(s) -
Mesas Andrés,
Jaramillo Angélica,
Castañeda Luis E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.289
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1420-9101
pISSN - 1010-061X
DOI - 10.1111/jeb.13777
Subject(s) - ectotherm , drosophila subobscura , biology , adaptation (eye) , selection (genetic algorithm) , critical thermal maximum , climate change , global warming , ecology , evolutionary biology , acclimatization , genetics , computer science , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , gene
Ectotherms can respond to global warming via evolutionary change of their upper thermal limits (CT max ). Thus, the estimation of CT max and its evolutionary potential is crucial to determine their vulnerability to global warming. However, CT max estimations depend on the thermal stress intensity, and it is not completely clear whether its evolutionary capacity can be affected. Here, we performed an artificial selection experiment to increase heat tolerance using fast‐ and slow‐ramping selection protocols in Drosophila subobscura . We found that heat tolerance evolved in both selection protocols, exhibiting similar evolutionary change rates and realized heritabilities. Additionally, we estimated the thermal performance curves (TPC) to evaluate correlated responses to selection on heat tolerance. We detected that thermal optimum increased in fast‐ramping selection lines, but with a cost at the thermal performance breadth. Conversely, we did not detect changes in the TPC for the slow‐ramping selection lines, indicating that thermal stress intensity has important effects on the evolution of thermal physiology of ectotherms. These findings, together with previous studies in D. subobscura reporting interpopulation variability and significant heritabilities for heat tolerance, suggest that evolutionary change can contribute to insect persistence in thermally changing environments and adaptation to global warming conditions.