0000000000054086
AUTHOR
Tiina Salminen
Myo-inositol as a main metabolite in overwintering flies: seasonal metabolomic profiles and cold stress tolerance in a northern drosophilid fly
SUMMARY Coping with seasonal changes in temperature is an important factor underlying the ability of insects to survive over the harsh winter conditions in the northern temperate zone, and only a few drosophilids have been able to colonize sub-polar habitats. Information on their winter physiology is needed as it may shed light on the adaptive mechanisms of overwintering when compared with abundant data on the thermal physiology of more southern species, such as Drosophila melanogaster. Here we report the first seasonal metabolite analysis in a Drosophila species. We traced changes in the cold tolerance and metabolomic profiles in adult Drosophila montana flies that were exposed to thermope…
Transcriptional Differences between Diapausing and Non-Diapausing D. montana Females Reared under the Same Photoperiod and Temperature
Background A wide range of insects living at higher latitudes enter diapause at the end of the warm season, which increases their chances of survival through harsh winter conditions. In this study we used RNA sequencing to identify genes involved in adult reproductive diapause in a northern fly species, Drosophila montana. Both diapausing and non-diapausing flies were reared under a critical day length and temperature, where about half of the emerging females enter diapause enabling us to eliminate the effects of varying environmental conditions on gene expression patterns of the two types of female flies. Results RNA sequencing revealed large differences between gene expression patterns of…
Changes in gene expression linked with adult reproductive diapause in a northern malt fly species: a candidate gene microarray study
Abstract Background Insect diapause is an important biological process which involves many life-history parameters important for survival and reproductive fitness at both individual and population level. Drosophila montana, a species of D. virilis group, has a profound photoperiodic reproductive diapause that enables the adult flies to survive through the harsh winter conditions of high latitudes and altitudes. We created a custom-made microarray for D. montana with 101 genes known to affect traits important in diapause, photoperiodism, reproductive behaviour, circadian clock and stress tolerance in model Drosophila species. This array gave us a chance to filter out genes showing expression…
The INTERPHONE study: design, epidemiological methods, and description of the study population
The very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields. A multinational case-control study, INTERPHONE, was set-up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and, more specifically, whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic. The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours. In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use, information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for t…
Sequence variation in couch potato and its effects on life-history traits in a northern malt fly, Drosophila montana
Abstract Couch potato ( cpo ) has previously been connected to reproductive diapause in several insect species including Drosophila melanogaster , where it has been suggested to provide a link between the insulin signalling pathway and the hormonal control of diapause. In the first part of the study we sequenced nearly 3.6 kb of this gene in a northern Drosophila species ( Drosophila montana ) with a robust photoperiodically determined diapause and found several types of polymorphisms along the sequenced area. We also found variation among five Drosophila virilis group species in the length of the 5th exon of cpo and in the site of the stop codon at the end of this exon. The second part of …
Validation of short term recall of mobile phone use for the Interphone study
Aim: To validate short term recall of mobile phone use within Interphone, an international collaborative case control study of tumours of the brain, acoustic nerve, and salivary glands related to mobile telephone use. Methods: Mobile phone use of 672 volunteers in 11 countries was recorded by operators or through the use of software modified phones, and compared to use recalled six months later using the Interphone study questionnaire. Agreement between recalled and actual phone use was analysed using both categorical and continuous measures of number and duration of phone calls. Results: Correlations between recalled and actual phone use were moderate to high (ranging from 0.5 to 0.8 acros…
Photoperiodic regulation of life-history traits before and after eclosion: egg-to-adult development time, juvenile body weight and reproductive diapause in Drosophila montana
Photoperiod is the main environmental cue used by northern insects to predict the forthcoming seasonal changes and to adjust their life-history traits to fit these changes. We studied the effects of photoperiod on egg-to-adult development time, juvenile body mass and female reproductive diapause in two northern Drosophila montana populations with different patterns of voltinism. The most interesting findings were consistent between the populations: (1) when maintained before eclosion in short day conditions, representing early autumn, the flies developed faster and were lighter than when maintained in long day conditions, representing early summer, (2) photoperiodic time measurement is appa…
Seasonal gene expression kinetics between diapause phases in Drosophila virilis group species and overwintering differences between diapausing and non-diapausing females.
AbstractMost northern insect species experience a period of developmental arrest, diapause, which enables them to survive over the winter and postpone reproduction until favorable conditions. We studied the timing of reproductive diapause and its long-term effects on the cold tolerance of Drosophila montana, D. littoralis and D. ezoana females in seasonally varying environmental conditions. At the same time we traced expression levels of 219 genes in D. montana using a custom-made microarray. We show that the seasonal switch to reproductive diapause occurs over a short time period and that overwintering in reproductive diapause has long-lasting effects on cold tolerance. Some genes, such as…
Cold tolerance and cold-induced modulation of gene expression in two Drosophila virilis group species with different distributions
Abstract The importance of high and low temperature tolerance in adaptation to changing environmental conditions has evoked new interest in modulations in gene expression and metabolism linked with stress tolerance. We investigated the effects of rapid cold hardening and cold acclimatization on the chill coma recovery times of two Drosophila virilis group species, Drosophila montana and D. virilis, with different distributions and utilized a candidate gene approach to trace changes in their gene expression during and after the cold treatments. The study showed that cold acclimatization clearly decreases chill coma recovery times in both species, whereas rapid cold hardening did not have a s…
Photoperiodic regulation of cold tolerance and expression levels of regucalcin gene in Drosophila montana
Temperature-induced plasticity of cold tolerance has been reported in many insect species, but cold tolerance can also be affected by changes in day (or night) length. In the present study we elucidate the direct and indirect effects of photoperiod on the cold tolerance of females of two Drosophila montana strains--one which possesses a robust photoperiodic diapause and another which does not. In the diapause-strain the time needed for recovery from chill coma showed a positive correlation with day length, but diapause itself played only a minor role in photoperiodic acclimation. The strain that was not able to enter to diapause as a response to day length also lacked photoperiodic cold acc…
Effect of temperature on the duration of sensitive period and on the number of photoperiodic cycles required for the induction of reproductive diapause in Drosophila montana
Abstract Correct timing of the induction of photoperiodic reproductive diapause has been found to play an important role in the life cycle of several northern insect species. However, even when the environmental conditions are favourable for diapause, the switch to diapause can only take place when the females are in a proper developmental and physiological stage, referred to as the sensitive period (SP) for diapause. We have previously shown that in a northern fly species, Drosophila montana, the developmental pathway of the ovaries (direct maturation vs. diapause) is determined by photoperiodic cues that the females receive after eclosion. Here, we have studied the effects of temperature …
Changes in gene expression linked with adult reproductive diapause in a northern malt fly species: a candidate gene microarray study
Background: Insect diapause is an important biological process which involves many life-history parameters important for survival and reproductive fitness at both individual and population level. Drosophila montana, a species of D. virilis group, has a profound photoperiodic reproductive diapause that enables the adult flies to survive through the harsh winter conditions of high latitudes and altitudes. We created a custom-made microarray for D. montana with 101 genes known to affect traits important in diapause, photoperiodism, reproductive behaviour, circadian clock and stress tolerance in model Drosophila species. This array gave us a chance to filter out genes showing expression changes…