Adaptation to larval malnutrition does not affect fluctuating asymmetry in<i>Drosophila melanogaster</i>

Vijendravarma, Roshan K.; Narasimha, Sunitha; Kawecki, Tadeusz J.

doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01697.x

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Even when multiple traits were analyzed jointly and the amount of FA exceeded the measurement error by a large and significant margin, the specimens under severe protein reduction did not display higher levels of FA compared to the control group. This is in agreement with some of the previous experiments on other organisms that also failed to find higher levels of FA in phenotypic traits under conditions of nutritional stress (Stige et al, 2004; Vishalakshi and Singh, 2007; Vijendravarma et al, 2011). Although findings in animal models have to be taken with caution because they are difficult to extrapolate to other species, similarities in developmental structure between human and rodent skulls (Martinez-Abadias et al, 2012) validate the inferences made from this study regarding the effect of environmental factors on fluctuating asymmetry in human populations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Canalization and developmental instability of the fetal skull in a mouse model of maternal nutritional stress

González

Lotto

Hallgrímsson

2014

American J Phys Anthropol

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Nutritional imbalance is one of the main sources of stress in both extant and extinct human populations. Restricted availability of nutrients is thought to disrupt the buffering mechanisms that contribute to developmental stability and canalization, resulting in increased levels of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and phenotypic variance among individuals. However, the literature is contradictory in this regard. This study assesses the effect of prenatal nutritional stress on FA and among-individual variance in cranial shape and size using a mouse model of maternal protein restriction. Two sets of landmark coordinates were digitized in three dimensions from skulls of control and protein restricted specimens at E17.5 and E18.5. We found that, by the end of gestation, maternal protein restriction resulted in a significant reduction of skull size. Fluctuating asymmetry in size and shape exceeded the amount of measurement error in all groups, but no significant differences in the magnitude of FA were found between treatments. Convsersely, the pattern of shape asymmetry was affected by the environmental perturbation since the angles between the first eigenvectors extracted from the covariance matrix of shape asymmetric component of protein restricted and control groups were not significantly different from the expected for random vectors. In addition, among-individual variance in cranial shape was significanlty higher in the protein restricted than the control group at E18.5. Overall, the results obtained from a controlled experiment do not support the view of fluctuating asymmetry of cranial structures as a reliable index for inferring nutritional stress in human populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Canalization and developmental instability of the fetal skull in a mouse model of maternal nutritional stress

González

Lotto

Hallgrímsson

2014

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…D. melanogaster were maintained at 25 °C in 12-h light:12-h dark conditions, on a standard yeast–cornmeal diet ( 46 ). Wild-type Canton S strain of D. melanogaster was used ( 47 ), unless noted otherwise.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drosophilafemales have an acoustic preference for symmetric males

Vijendravarma

Narasimha

Steinfath

et al. 2022

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Significance Theoretically, symmetry in bilateral animals is subject to sexual selection, since it can serve as a proxy for genetic quality of competing mates during mate choice. Here, we report female preference for symmetric males in Drosophila , using a mate-choice paradigm where males with environmentally or genetically induced wing asymmetry were competed. Analysis of courtship songs revealed that males with asymmetric wings produced songs with asymmetric features that served as acoustic cues, facilitating this female preference. Females experimentally evolved in the absence of mate choice lost this preference for symmetry, suggesting that it is maintained by sexual selection.

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“…In insects, FA have increased under environmental stress factors such as temperature (Chapman & Goulson, 2000; Trotta et al , 2005, nutritional stress (Imasheva et al , 1999), parasitic infection (Polak, 1993) or chemicals (Abaga et al , 2011), as well as under genetic stress factors such as inbreeding (Carter et al , 2009), homozygosity (Messier & Mitton, 1996) or hybridization (Ross & Robertson, 1990). Nevertheless, some studies did not demonstrate considerable changes in the level of FA caused by environmental stress (e.g., nutritional stress, Vijendravarma et al , 2011; crowding, Chapman & Goulson, 2000; temperature, Jones et al , 2005) or genetic stress (e.g., inbreeding, Clarke et al , 1986; Fowler & Whitlock, 1994; Carter et al , 2009; hybridization, Smith et al , 1997). These differences may result from the fact that the impact of stress on FA seems to be species-, trait- or stressor-specific (Bjorksten et al , 2000; Beasley et al , 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship between asymmetry, size and unusual venation in honey bees (Apis mellifera)

Łopuch

Tofilski

2016

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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Despite the fact that symmetry is common in nature, it is rarely perfect. Because there is a wide range of phenotypes which differs from the average one, the asymmetry should increase along with deviation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of asymmetry in normal individuals as well as in phenodeviants categorized as minor or major based on abnormalities in forewing venation in honey bees. Shape fluctuating asymmetry (FA) was lower in normal individuals and minor phenodeviants compared with major phenodeviants, whereas the former two categories were comparable in drones. In workers and queens, there were not significant differences in FA shape between categories. FA size was significantly lower in normal individuals compared with major phenodeviant drones and higher compared with minor phenodeviant workers. In queens, there were no significant differences between categories. The correlation between FA shape and FA size was significantly positive in drones, and insignificant in workers and queens. Moreover, a considerable level of directional asymmetry was found as the right wing was constantly bigger than the left one. Surprisingly, normal individuals were significantly smaller than minor phenodeviants in queens and drones, and they were comparable with major phenodeviants in all castes. The correlation between wing size and wing asymmetry was negative, indicating that smaller individuals were more asymmetrical. The high proportion of phenodeviants in drones compared with workers and queens confirmed their large variability. Thus, the results of the present study showed that minor phenodeviants were not always intermediate as might have been expected.

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Adaptation to larval malnutrition does not affect fluctuating asymmetry inDrosophila melanogaster

Cited by 6 publications

References 58 publications

Canalization and developmental instability of the fetal skull in a mouse model of maternal nutritional stress

Canalization and developmental instability of the fetal skull in a mouse model of maternal nutritional stress

Drosophilafemales have an acoustic preference for symmetric males

The relationship between asymmetry, size and unusual venation in honey bees (Apis mellifera)

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