Publication with datasets Hoffmann et al. 2001, Levels of variation in stress resistance in Drosophila among strains, local populations, and geographic regions: Patterns for desiccation, starvation, cold resistance, and associated traits, Evolution

Keywords
Body size, Correlation, Geographic comparisons, Isofemale strains, Lipids, Population variation and Stress resistance

Summary

ABSTRACT: Stress resistance traits in Drosophila often show clinal variation. Although these patterns suggest selection, there is generally no attempt to test how large differences at the geographical level are relative to levels of variation within and between local populations. Here we compare these levels in D. melanogaster from temperate Tasmania versus tropical northern Queensland by focusing on adult resistance to desiccation, cold and starvation stress, as well as associated traits (size, lipid content). For starvation and desiccation resistance, levels of variation were highest among strains from the same population, whereas there was little differentiation among local populations and a low level of differentiation at the geographic level. For adult cold resistance, there was local differentiation and strain variation but no geographic variation. For size (thorax length), geographic differentiation was higher despite some overlap among strains from the tropical and temperate locations. Finally, for lipid levels there was only evidence for variation among strains. The low level of differentiation among geographic locations for stress resistance was further verified with the characterization of isofemale strains from 18 locations along a coastal transect extending from Tasmania to northern Queensland. Crosses among some of the isofemale strains showed that results were not confounded by inbreeding effects. Strains derived from a cross between a tropical and temperate strain differed for all traits, and variation among strains for body size was higher than strain variation within the geographic regions. Unlike in previous studies, lipid content and starvation resistance were not correlated in any set of strains, but there was a correlation between cold resistance and lipid content. There was also a correlation between desiccation resistance and size but only in the geographic cross strains. These findings suggest a large amount of variation in stress resistance at the population level and inconsistent correlation patterns across experimental approaches.

Datasets

  • 09 Hoffmann et al. 2001, Desiccation resistance

    This data file contains desiccation resistance (hours to death) of female and male Drosophila melanogaster of two types of lines (isofemale lines and F1s of a cross between two isofemale lines from the same population) and originating from 18 populations collected in 2000 (Fig. 4). Note longitudes in data are approximate.

  • 10 Hoffmann et al. 2001, Starvation resistance

    This data file contains starvation resistance (hours to death) of female and male Drosophila melanogaster of two types of lines (isofemale lines and F1s of a cross between two isofemale lines from the same population) and originating from 18 populations collected in 2000 (Fig. 4). Note longitudes in data are approximate.

  • 11 Hoffmann et al. 2001, Line means

    This data file contains line mean starvation resistance (LT50 in hours), desiccation resistance (LT50 in hours), cold resistance (mortality out of 10), lipid content (proportion of body weight) and thorax length (mm) for four Queensland and three Tasmanian Drosophila melanogaster populations collected in 1997 (Fig. 2). Note longitudes in data are approximate.

Publication Citations

  • Hoffmann, A. A., Hallas, R., Sinclair, C., and Mitrovski, P., 'Levels of variation in stress resistance in Drosophila among strains, local populations, and geographic regions: Patterns for desiccation, starvation, cold resistance, and associated traits', Evolution, vol. 55, no. 8, 2001, pp. 1621-1630. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00681.x. Details