Dataset Information

Natural variation in the transcriptional response of Drosophila melanogaster to oxidative stress

ABSTRACT: Broadly distributed species must cope with diverse and changing environmental conditions, including various forms of stress. Cosmopolitan populations of Drosophila melanogaster are more tolerant to oxidative stress than those from the species’ ancestral range in sub-Saharan Africa, and the degree of tolerance is associated with an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the 3’ untranslated region of the Metallothionein A (MtnA) gene that varies clinally in frequency. We examined oxidative stress tolerance and the transcriptional response to oxidative stress in cosmopolitan and sub-Saharan African populations of D. melanogaster, including paired samples with allelic differences at the MtnA locus. We found that the effect of the MtnA polymorphism on oxidative stress tolerance was dependent on the genomic background, with the deletion allele increasing tolerance only in a northern, temperate population. Genes that were differentially expressed under oxidative stress included MtnA and other metallothioneins, as well as those involved in glutathione metabolism and other genes known to be part of the oxidative stress response or the general stress response.

ORGANISM(S): Drosophila melanogaster

PROVIDER: GSE174813 | GEO | 2022/01/11

REPOSITORIES: GEO

ACCESS DATA

Dataset's files

Source:

			Action	DRS
		Other

Items per page:

1 - 1 of 1

Similar Datasets

Project description:Climate change is one of the main factors shaping the distributions and biodiversity of organisms, among others by greatly altering water availability, thus exposing species and ecosystems to harsh desiccation conditions. Insects are specially threatened by these challenging dry environments, thanks to their small size and thus large surface area to volume ratio. Drosophila melanogaster is a great model to study the response of populations to rapidly changing conditions, because of its southern African origin and recent and fast worldwide spreading. Desiccation stress response is a complex and extensively studied trait, however the natural variation and underlying molecular and physiological mechanisms responsible for the tolerance in natural European D. melanogaster populations has never been studied. Here we subjected to desiccation stress 74 natural D. melanogaster European strains, belonging to five different climate zones. We found that the strains belonging to the cold semi-arid climates are more tolerant compared to the others, and that this tolerance can be explained by the combination of altitude and evaporation. The tolerant strains had a lower level of initial water content and lost less water during desiccation stress. We found that the reduction in the water loss happens through a decrease in the respiration rate in desiccation stress conditions, and by having a less permeable cuticle prior the stress exposure. The decreased rate of respiration in the tolerant strains is a consequence of the down-regulation of genes related to diverse metabolic processes. Moreover, we found that the genes related to response to stimulus and environmental sensing are up-regulated only in the tolerant strains. We also identified four transposable element insertions, which might be responsible for changes in gene expression. Overall, our study for the first time described the physiological and transcriptomic changes underlying the desiccation tolerance of natural European D. melanogaster strains, and generated a list of putative mutations shaping desiccation stress response.

Dataset Information

Natural variation in the transcriptional response of Drosophila melanogaster to oxidative stress

Dataset's files

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets