<b>Identifying the proximate mechanisms that generate variation in nutritional plasticity for fecundity in </b><b><i>Drosophila melanogaster</i></b>

Nutrition is an important determinant of an animal’s survival and fitness. Phenotypic plasticity allows a genotype to adjust life history traits to changes in its nutritional environment, and it varies among individuals. To understand how variation in plasticity is achieved, we made use of a <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> isogenic panel to characterize nutritional plasticity for fecundity by feeding flies diets differing in their yeast content and counting the number of eggs produced. We then identified lines with the highest and lowest plastic responses to diet and dissected the potential proximate mechanisms responsible for these differences in plasticity, including morphology, behaviour, and physiology. Our results suggest that genetic variation in plasticity is not due to differences in ovariole number, but due to both increased food intake, and higher efficiency at converting food into eggs. Our results show that, in this population of <i>D. melanogaster</i>, variation in behaviour and physiology, but not morphology, underlies differences in plasticity for fecundity. Further, they set the stage for future studies aiming to understand how the proximate mechanisms that generate genetic variation in plasticity contribute to a population’s persistence when faced with environmental changes.

营养是影响动物生存与适合度的核心决定因素。表型可塑性（Phenotypic plasticity）可使基因型根据营养环境的变化调整自身生活史性状，且该可塑性在不同个体间存在显著差异。为解析可塑性变异的潜在机制，本研究借助黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）等基因系面板（isogenic panel），通过给果蝇饲喂酵母含量梯度各异的日粮并统计产卵量，对其繁殖力相关的营养可塑性进行了系统表征。随后我们筛选出对日粮响应可塑性最强与最弱的品系，并剖析了导致这些可塑性差异的潜在近端机制，涵盖形态学、行为学与生理学三个维度。研究结果显示，可塑性的遗传变异并非源于卵巢小管数（ovariole number）的差异，而是源于食物摄取量的增加以及食物向卵转化效率的提升。本研究结果表明，在该黑腹果蝇种群中，繁殖力相关可塑性的差异由行为与生理学层面的变异所驱动，而非形态学层面的差异。此外，本研究为后续探索“产生可塑性遗传变异的近端机制如何助力种群应对环境变化并维持存续”的相关研究奠定了坚实基础。

搜集汇总

背景与挑战

背景概述

该数据集聚焦于黑腹果蝇繁殖力营养可塑性的遗传变异机制研究，通过饮食实验识别了可塑性差异的品系，并揭示了行为和生理因素（而非形态）是导致可塑性变异的关键近因机制。数据集支持开放获取，适用于进化发育系统、气候变化影响和生命史研究领域。