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SUMMARY:Plasticity and Evolution of Body Size and Shape - Christen Mirth (
 Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência)
DTSTART:20150520T120000Z
DTEND:20150520T130000Z
UID:TALK57669@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Marcia Kishida
DESCRIPTION:Variation in body size and body shape underlies much of the di
 versity observed between insect species.  This variation in body size/shap
 e results from genetic variation between and within species\, but also fro
 m environmentally induced variation that can cause dramatic changes in phe
 notype within a single genotype.  We are interested in how the development
 al mechanisms that respond to environmental change\, also known as phenoty
 pic plasticity\, correlate with the genetically determined variation in ph
 enotype between and within species. Here\, we will explore an example of h
 ow developmental processes in the ovary are affected by both environmental
  and genetic variation to generate a range of ovary sizes. We used the fru
 it fly _Drosophila melanogaster_ to first identify phases of sensitivity t
 o nutrition that contribute to plasticity ovary size\, and to uncover thre
 e developmental processes affected by nutrition. We further determined the
  role of two nutrition-responsive signalling pathways\, the ecdysone signa
 lling and the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signalling (IIS) pathways
 \, in regulating each of these developmental processes\, thereby determini
 ng ovary size. Next\, we explored if the developmental processes affected 
 by nutrition also account for genetic differences in ovariole number betwe
 en two subspecies of _Drosophila mojavensis_\, _D. moj. sonorensis_ and _D
 . moj. wrigleyi_. This characterization revealed that all three developmen
 tal processes differ between subspecies. Nevertheless\, divergence in ovar
 y growth rates appears to underlie much of the variation in ovariole numbe
 r. These data suggest that genetic variation in ovariole number between th
 ese subspecies results from a subset of the processes involved in the plas
 tic response to nutrition. Further experiments are required to determine w
 hether the same signalling pathways\, ecdysone signalling and IIS\, are al
 so underlie genetic variation in ovariole number.
LOCATION:Main Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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