Interfaculty Institute of Cell Biology, Section Animal Genetics, University of Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 15, Tübingen, 72076, Germany.
School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2021 Aug;96(4):1421-1440. doi: 10.1111/brv.12709. Epub 2021 Mar 22.
Climate change globally perturbs water circulation thereby influencing ecosystems including cultivated land. Both harmful and beneficial species of insects are likely to be vulnerable to such changes in climate. As small animals with a disadvantageous surface area to body mass ratio, they face a risk of desiccation. A number of behavioural, physiological and genetic strategies are deployed to solve these problems during adaptation in various Drosophila species. Over 100 desiccation-related genes have been identified in laboratory and wild populations of the cosmopolitan fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and its sister species in large-scale and single-gene approaches. These genes are involved in water sensing and homeostasis, and barrier formation and function via the production and composition of surface lipids and via pigmentation. Interestingly, the genetic strategy implemented in a given population appears to be unpredictable. In part, this may be due to different experimental approaches in different studies. The observed variability may also reflect a rich standing genetic variation in Drosophila allowing a quasi-random choice of response strategies through soft-sweep events, although further studies are needed to unravel any underlying principles. These findings underline that D. melanogaster is a robust species well adapted to resist climate change-related desiccation. The rich data obtained in Drosophila research provide a framework to address and understand desiccation resistance in other insects. Through the application of powerful genetic tools in the model organism D. melanogaster, the functions of desiccation-related genes revealed by correlative studies can be tested and the underlying molecular mechanisms of desiccation tolerance understood. The combination of the wealth of available data and its genetic accessibility makes Drosophila an ideal bioindicator. Accumulation of data on desiccation resistance in Drosophila may allow us to create a world map of genetic evolution in response to climate change in an insect genome. Ultimately these efforts may provide guidelines for dealing with the effects of climate-related perturbations on insect population dynamics in the future.
气候变化会全球扰乱水循环，从而影响包括耕地在内的生态系统。有害和有益的昆虫物种都可能容易受到这种气候变化的影响。由于它们是具有不利表面积与体重比的小动物，它们面临着脱水的风险。在各种果蝇物种的适应过程中，会采用许多行为、生理和遗传策略来解决这些问题。通过大规模和单基因方法，已经在实验室和野生种群的世界性果蝇黑腹果蝇及其姐妹种中鉴定出了 100 多个与脱水相关的基因。这些基因参与水感知和体内平衡，以及通过产生和组成表面脂质以及通过色素沉着来形成和维持屏障。有趣的是，在给定种群中实施的遗传策略似乎是不可预测的。部分原因可能是不同研究中的实验方法不同。观察到的可变性也可能反映了果蝇中丰富的遗传变异，允许通过软扫除事件对反应策略进行近乎随机的选择，尽管需要进一步研究来揭示任何潜在的原则。这些发现强调了黑腹果蝇是一种适应力强的物种，能够很好地抵抗与气候变化相关的脱水。在果蝇研究中获得的丰富数据为解决和理解其他昆虫的脱水抗性提供了一个框架。通过在模式生物黑腹果蝇中应用强大的遗传工具，可以测试相关研究中揭示的与脱水相关的基因的功能，并了解脱水耐受性的潜在分子机制。可用数据的丰富性及其遗传可及性的结合使果蝇成为理想的生物指标。在果蝇中积累有关脱水抗性的数据，可能使我们能够在昆虫基因组中创建一个针对气候变化的遗传进化的世界图谱。最终，这些努力可能为应对未来与气候相关的昆虫种群动态变化的影响提供指导。
