Changes in chromosomal polymorphism and global warming: the case of Drosophila subobscura from Apatin (Serbia)

Abstract

In this study, chromosomal inversion polymorphism data for a natural population of Drosophila subobscura from a swampy region near the town of Apatin (Serbia) were compared with data for the same population collected approximately 15 years earlier. The pattern of chromosomal inversion polymorphism changed over time. There were significant increases in the frequency of characteristic southern latitude (“warm” adapted) chromosomal arrangements and significant decreases in the frequency of characteristic northern latitude (“cold” adapted) chromosomal arrangements in the O and U chromosomes. The chromosomal arrangements O3+4 and O3+4+22 (derived from the O3+4 arrangement) showed significant increases in 2008 and 2009 with regard to the 1994 sample. There was also a significant increase (∼50%) in the U1+2 arrangement, while U1+8+2 (a typical southern arrangement) was detected for the first time. Since the Apatin swampy population of D. subobscura has existed for a long time in a stable habitat with high humidity that has not been changed by man our results indicate that natural selection has produced chromosomal changes in response to the increase in temperature that has occurred in the Balkan Peninsula of central southeastern European.

Inbreeding and thermal adaptation inDrosophila subobscura

“…In G 0 , the inversions (or chromosomal arrangements) and karyotypes found are characteristic of the Avala mountain population (Zivanovic and Mestres 2010a) and also of the Balkan region (Zivanovic et al 1995(Zivanovic et al , 2002Zivanovic 2007;Rasic et al 2008;Stamenkovic-Radak et al 2008;Kenig et al 2010;Zivanovic and Mestres 2011;Jelić et al 2012). No significant changes between G 0 and G 12 were observed for the inversion and arrangement frequencies.…”

Medium-term changes in Drosophila subobscura chromosomal inversion polymorphism: a possible relation with global warming?

“…In particular, environmental conditions of this region, it probably presents an adaptive advantage to their carriers. In the Balkans, it has also been observed to decrease in frequency over time in different studies (Zivanovic and Mestres 2011;Zivanovic et al 2012), likely due to some kind of environmental changes. Thus, it seems that natural conditions are probably changing along the years in these populations and D. subobscura is adapting to them.…”

How do organisms adapt to climate change? Chromosomal inversions in Drosophila subobscura: The case of Serbian populations

“…We chose the population in Apatin, a wetland area on the left side of the Danube, for the next study (Zivanovic & Mestres, 2011). It is a very stable habitat, which is relatively unaffected by human activity, and is ideal for the proposed research project.…”

“…The Serbian population chosen was from Petnica (collected in 2010), about 100 km south of Belgrade (Zivanovic, Arenas, & Mestres, 2012), and the specimens were collected in a Carpinus betula forest. This work also aimed to carry out comparative analysis of the Serbian populations we had chromosomal inversion data for (a total of eighteen samples) using multivariate statistical methodology.…”