TY - JOUR
T1 - Oxygen and temperature affect cell sizes differently among tissues and between sexes of Drosophila melanogaster
AU - Czarnoleski, Marcin
AU - Szlachcic, Ewa
AU - Privalova, Valeriya
AU - Maria Labecka, Anna
AU - Sikorska, Anna
AU - Sobczyk, Łukasz
AU - VandenBrooks, John
AU - Angilletta, Michael J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (OPUS 2016/21/B/NZ8/00303 to M.C.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/11
Y1 - 2023/11
N2 - Spatio-temporal gradients in thermal and oxygen conditions trigger evolutionary and developmental responses in ectotherms’ body size and cell size, which are commonly interpreted as adaptive. However, the evidence for cell-size responses is fragmentary, as cell size is typically assessed in single tissues. In a laboratory experiment, we raised genotypes of Drosophila melanogaster at all combinations of two temperatures (16 °C or 25 °C) and two oxygen levels (10% or 22%) and measured body size and the sizes of cells in different tissues. For each sex, we measured epidermal cells in a wing and a leg and ommatidial cells of an eye. For males, we also measured epithelial cells of a Malpighian tubule and muscle cells of a flight muscle. On average, females emerged at a larger body size than did males, having larger cells in all tissues. Flies of either sex emerged at a smaller body size when raised under warm or hypoxic conditions. Development at 25 °C resulted in smaller cells in most tissues. Development under hypoxia resulted in smaller cells in some tissues, especially among females. Altogether, our results show thermal and oxygen conditions trigger shifts in adult size, coupled with the systemic orchestration of cell sizes throughout the body of a fly. The nature of these patterns supports a model in which an ectotherm adjusts its life-history traits and cellular composition to prevent severe hypoxia at the cellular level. However, our results revealed some inconsistencies linked to sex, cell type, and environmental parameters, which suggest caution in translating information obtained for single type of cells to the organism as a whole.
AB - Spatio-temporal gradients in thermal and oxygen conditions trigger evolutionary and developmental responses in ectotherms’ body size and cell size, which are commonly interpreted as adaptive. However, the evidence for cell-size responses is fragmentary, as cell size is typically assessed in single tissues. In a laboratory experiment, we raised genotypes of Drosophila melanogaster at all combinations of two temperatures (16 °C or 25 °C) and two oxygen levels (10% or 22%) and measured body size and the sizes of cells in different tissues. For each sex, we measured epidermal cells in a wing and a leg and ommatidial cells of an eye. For males, we also measured epithelial cells of a Malpighian tubule and muscle cells of a flight muscle. On average, females emerged at a larger body size than did males, having larger cells in all tissues. Flies of either sex emerged at a smaller body size when raised under warm or hypoxic conditions. Development at 25 °C resulted in smaller cells in most tissues. Development under hypoxia resulted in smaller cells in some tissues, especially among females. Altogether, our results show thermal and oxygen conditions trigger shifts in adult size, coupled with the systemic orchestration of cell sizes throughout the body of a fly. The nature of these patterns supports a model in which an ectotherm adjusts its life-history traits and cellular composition to prevent severe hypoxia at the cellular level. However, our results revealed some inconsistencies linked to sex, cell type, and environmental parameters, which suggest caution in translating information obtained for single type of cells to the organism as a whole.
KW - Cell size
KW - Oxygen
KW - Sexual dimorphism
KW - TSR
KW - Temperature
KW - Temperature-size rule
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85170525162&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85170525162&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2023.104559
DO - 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2023.104559
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85170525162
SN - 0022-1910
VL - 150
JO - Journal of insect physiology
JF - Journal of insect physiology
M1 - 104559
ER -