Siomava Natalia, Wimmer Ernst A, Posnien Nico
Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Göttingen Center for Molecular Biosciences (GZMB), Department of Developmental Biology, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Ernst-Caspari-Haus, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 11, 37077, Göttingen, Germany.
Dev Genes Evol. 2016 Jun;226(3):245-56. doi: 10.1007/s00427-016-0543-6. Epub 2016 Apr 26.
Body size is an integral feature of an organism that influences many aspects of life such as fecundity, life span and mating success. Size of individual organs and the entire body size represent quantitative traits with a large reaction norm, which are influenced by various environmental factors. In the model system Drosophila melanogaster, pupal size and adult traits, such as tibia and thorax length or wing size, accurately estimate the overall body size. However, it is unclear whether these traits can be used in other flies. Therefore, we studied changes in size of pupae and adult organs in response to different rearing temperatures and densities for D. melanogaster, Ceratitis capitata and Musca domestica. We confirm a clear sexual size dimorphism (SSD) for Drosophila and show that the SSD is less uniform in the other species. Moreover, the size response to changing growth conditions is sex dependent. Comparison of static and evolutionary allometries of the studied traits revealed that response to the same environmental variable is genotype specific but has similarities between species of the same order. We conclude that the value of adult traits as estimators of the absolute body size may differ among species and the use of a single trait may result in wrong assumptions. Therefore, we suggest using a body size coefficient computed from several individual measurements. Our data is of special importance for monitoring activities of natural populations of the three dipteran flies, since they are harmful species causing economical damage (Drosophila, Ceratitis) or transferring diseases (Musca).
体型是生物体的一个重要特征，它影响着生活的许多方面，如繁殖力、寿命和交配成功率。单个器官的大小和整个身体的大小代表了具有较大反应规范的数量性状，它们受到各种环境因素的影响。在模式生物黑腹果蝇中，蛹的大小和成虫的特征，如胫骨和胸部长度或翅膀大小，能够准确地估计整体体型。然而，尚不清楚这些特征是否可用于其他果蝇。因此，我们研究了黑腹果蝇、地中海实蝇和家蝇在不同饲养温度和密度下蛹和成虫器官大小的变化。我们证实了果蝇存在明显的两性体型差异（SSD），并表明其他物种的SSD不太一致。此外，对生长条件变化的体型反应具有性别依赖性。对所研究性状的静态和进化异速生长的比较表明，对相同环境变量的反应具有基因型特异性，但在同一目物种之间存在相似性。我们得出结论，成虫性状作为绝对体型估计指标的价值可能因物种而异，使用单一性状可能会导致错误的假设。因此，我们建议使用由多个个体测量值计算得出的体型系数。我们的数据对于监测这三种双翅目果蝇自然种群的活动具有特别重要的意义，因为它们是造成经济损失的有害物种（果蝇、地中海实蝇）或传播疾病的物种（家蝇）。
