Department of Biology, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, USA.
J Evol Biol. 2010 Nov;23(11):2346-55. doi: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.02095.x. Epub 2010 Sep 6.
Many organisms modify their physiological functions by acclimating to changes in their environment. Recent studies of thermal physiology have been influenced by verbal models that fail to consider the selective advantage of acclimation and thus make no predictions about variation in acclimation capacity. We used a quantitative model of optimal plasticity to generate predictions about the capacity of Drosophila melanogaster to acclimate to developmental temperature. This model predicts that the ability to acclimate thermal sensitivity should evolve when temperature varies greatly among generations. Based on the model, we expected that flies from the highly seasonal environment of New Jersey would acclimate thermal sensitivity more than would flies from the less seasonal environment of Florida. When raised at constant and fluctuating temperatures, flies from these populations failed to adjust their thermal optima in the way predicted by the model, suggesting that current assumptions about functional and genetic constraints should be reconsidered.
许多生物通过适应环境变化来调节生理功能。最近的热生理学研究受到了口头模型的影响，这些模型没有考虑到适应的选择优势，因此无法对适应能力的变化做出预测。我们使用了一个最佳可塑性的定量模型，来预测黑腹果蝇适应发育温度的能力。该模型预测，当温度在几代之间有很大差异时，适应热敏感性的能力应该会进化。基于该模型，我们预计来自新泽西季节性较强环境的果蝇比来自佛罗里达州季节性较弱环境的果蝇更能适应热敏感性。当在恒温或波动温度下饲养时，这些种群的果蝇并没有像模型预测的那样调整其热最佳值，这表明应该重新考虑当前关于功能和遗传限制的假设。
