De Ro Madelena, Enriquez Thomas, Bonte Jochem, Ebrahimi Negin, Casteels Hans, De Clercq Patrick, Colinet Hervé
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Plant - Crop Protection - Entomology, Burgemeester Van Gansberghelaan 96, 9820Merelbeke, Belgium.
Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Plants and Crops, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000Gent, Belgium.
Bull Entomol Res. 2021 Dec;111(6):694-704. doi: 10.1017/S0007485321000377. Epub 2021 Aug 24.
The spotted wing drosophila, , is an invasive pest in Europe and North America. Access to resources may be challenging in late fall, winter and early spring and flies may suffer from food deprivation along with cold stress in these periods. Whereas a plethora of studies have been performed on the overwintering capacity of , the effects of starvation on the fly's cold tolerance have not been addressed. In the present study, young adults (reared at 25°C, LD 12:12 h) were deprived of food for various periods (0, 12, 24 and 36 h), after which chill coma recovery time, critical thermal minimum, as well as acute and chronic cold tolerance were assessed. Additionally, the body composition of adults (body mass, water content, total lipid, glycerol, triglycerides, glucose and proteins) before and after starvation periods was analysed to confirm that starvation had detectable effects. Starved adults had a lower body mass, and both lipid and carbohydrate levels decreased with starvation time. Starvation slightly increased critical thermal minimum and affected chill coma recovery time; however, these changes were not gradual with starvation duration. Starvation promoted acute cold tolerance in both sexes. This effect appeared faster in males than in females. Food deprivation also led to enhanced survival to chronic cold stress. Short-term starvation was thus associated with significant changes in body composition in , and these alterations could alter some ecologically relevant traits related to cold tolerance, particularly in females. Our results suggest that food deprivation during short time (<36 h) can promote cold tolerance (especially survival after a cold stress) of flies. Future studies should address the ecological significance of these findings as short food deprivation may occur in the fields on many occasions and seasons.
斑翅果蝇是欧洲和北美的一种入侵性害虫。在秋末、冬季和早春获取资源可能具有挑战性，果蝇在这些时期可能会遭受食物短缺以及寒冷胁迫。尽管已经对斑翅果蝇的越冬能力进行了大量研究，但饥饿对果蝇耐寒性的影响尚未得到探讨。在本研究中，将年轻的成虫（在25°C、光照周期为12:12小时的条件下饲养）禁食不同时间段（0、12、24和36小时），之后评估冷昏迷恢复时间、临界热最小值以及急性和慢性耐寒性。此外，分析饥饿前后成虫的身体组成（体重、含水量、总脂质、甘油、甘油三酯、葡萄糖和蛋白质），以确认饥饿产生了可检测到的影响。饥饿的成虫体重较低，脂质和碳水化合物水平均随饥饿时间而下降。饥饿略微提高了临界热最小值并影响了冷昏迷恢复时间；然而，这些变化并不随饥饿持续时间而逐渐变化。饥饿促进了两性的急性耐寒性。这种影响在雄性中比在雌性中出现得更快。食物剥夺还导致对慢性寒冷胁迫的存活率提高。因此，短期饥饿与斑翅果蝇身体组成的显著变化有关，这些改变可能会改变一些与耐寒性相关的生态相关性状，尤其是在雌性中。我们的结果表明，短时间（<36小时）的食物剥夺可以提高斑翅果蝇的耐寒性（特别是冷胁迫后的存活率）。未来的研究应该探讨这些发现的生态意义，因为在田间的许多场合和季节都可能发生短时间的食物剥夺。
