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Université de Fribourg

Life-history evolution and the genetics of fitness components in drosophila melanogaster

Flatt, Thomas

In: Genetics, 2020, vol. 214, no. 1, p. 3–48

Life-history traits or “fitness components”—such as age and size at maturity, fecundity and fertility, age-specific rates of survival, and life span—are the major phenotypic determinants of Darwinian fitness. Analyzing the evolution and genetics of these phenotypic targets of selection is central to our understanding of adaptation. Due to its simple and rapid life cycle, cosmopolitan...

Université de Fribourg

Multilevel regulation of the glass locus during Drosophila eye development

Fritsch, Cornelia ; Bernardo-Garcia, F. Javier ; Humberg, Tim-Henning ; Mishra, Abhishek Kumar ; Miellet, Sara ; Almeida, Silvia ; Frochaux, Michael V. ; Deplancke, Bart ; Huber, Armin ; Sprecher, Simon G.

In: PLOS Genetics, 2019, vol. 15, no. 7, p. e1008269

Development of eye tissue is initiated by a conserved set of transcription factors termed retinal determination network (RDN). In the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the zinc-finger transcription factor Glass acts directly downstream of the RDN to control identity of photoreceptor as well as non-photoreceptor cells. Tight control of spatial and temporal gene expression is a critical...

Université de Fribourg

Wolbachia modifies thermal preference in Drosophila melanogaster

Truitt, Amy M. ; Kapun, Martin ; Kaur, Rupinder ; Miller, Wolfgang J.

In: Environmental Microbiology, 2019, vol. 21, no. 9, p. 3259–3268

Environmental variation can have profound and direct effects on fitness, fecundity, and host–symbiont interactions. Replication rates of microbes within arthropod hosts, for example, are correlated with incubation temperature but less is known about the influence of host–symbiont dynamics on environmental preference. Hence, we conducted thermal preference (Tp) assays and tested if...

Université de Fribourg

Distinct genomic signals of lifespan and life history evolution in response to postponed reproduction and larval diet in Drosophila

Hoedjes, Katja M. ; van den Heuvel, Joost ; Kapun, Martin ; Keller, Laurent ; Flatt, Thomas ; Zwaan, Bas J.

In: Evolution Letters, 2019, p. -

Reproduction and diet are two major factors controlling the physiology of aging and life history, but how they interact to affect the evolution of longevity is unknown. Moreover, although studies of large‐effect mutants suggest an important role of nutrient sensing pathways in regulating aging, the genetic basis of evolutionary changes in lifespan remains poorly understood. To address these...

Université de Fribourg

The adaptive significance of chromosomal inversion polymorphisms in Drosophila melanogaster

Kapun, Martin ; Flatt, Thomas

In: Molecular Ecology, 2019, vol. 28, no. 6, p. 1263–1282

Chromosomal inversions, structural mutations that reverse a segment of a chromosome, cause suppression of recombination in the heterozygous state. Several studies have shown that inversion polymorphisms can form clines or fluctuate predictably in frequency over seasonal time spans. These observations prompted the hypothesis that chromosomal rearrangements might be subject to spatially and/or ...

Université de Fribourg

Host range and Specificity of the Drosophila C Virus

Kapun, Martin ; Nolte, Viola ; Flatt, Thomas ; Schlötterer, Christian

In: PLoS ONE, 2010, vol. 5, no. 8, p. 1-5

Background: The Drosophila C virus (DCV) is a common and well-studied Drosophila pathogen. Although natural infections are known from Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans, and artificial infections have been reported from several. Drosophila species and other insects, it remains unclear to date whether DCV infections also occur naturally in other Drosophila species. Methods/Principal Findings:...

Université de Fribourg

Hormonal regulation of the humoral innate immune response in Drosophila melanogaster

Flatt, Thomas ; Heyland, Andreas ; Rus, Florentina ; Porpiglia, Ermelinda ; Sherlock, Chris ; Yamamoto, Rochele ; Garbuzov, Alina ; Palli, Subba R. ; Tatar, Marc ; Silverman, Neal

In: The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2008, vol. 21, no. 1, p. 2712-2724

Juvenile hormone (JH) and 20-hydroxy-ecdysone (20E) are highly versatile hormones, coordinating development, growth, reproduction and aging in insects. Pulses of 20E provide key signals for initiating developmental and physiological transitions, while JH promotes or inhibits these signals in a stage-specific manner. Previous evidence suggests that JH and 20E might modulate innate immunity,...

Université de Fribourg

Adaptation to fluctuating environments in a selection experiment with Drosophila melanogaster

Kubrak, Olga I. ; Nylin, Sören ; Flatt, Thomas ; Nässel, Dick R. ; Leimar, Olof

In: Ecology and Evolution, 2017, vol. 7, no. 11, p. 3796–3807

A fundamental question in life‐history evolution is how organisms cope with fluctuating environments, including variation between stressful and benign conditions. For short‐ lived organisms, environments commonly vary between generations. Using a novel experimental design, we exposed wild‐derived Drosophila melanogaster to three different selection regimes: one where generations...