Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?

In temperate regions, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen, 1830) is subject to seasonal changes in natural conditions. Insects exhibit a wide range of adaptive responses to changes in the seasons. In this study, we focused on polyteny, which plays an important role in fruit fly development...

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Main Authors: Volodymyr STRASHNYUK, Evgenij VAKULENKO, Yelyzaveta KOPTEVTSOVA
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Science 2025-01-01
Series:European Journal of Entomology
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Online Access:https://www.eje.cz/artkey/eje-202501-0001_seasonal-variation-in-endoreduplication-and-polyteny-in-the-fruit-fly-drosophila-melanogaster-diptera-drosoph.php
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author Volodymyr STRASHNYUK
Evgenij VAKULENKO
Yelyzaveta KOPTEVTSOVA
author_facet Volodymyr STRASHNYUK
Evgenij VAKULENKO
Yelyzaveta KOPTEVTSOVA
author_sort Volodymyr STRASHNYUK
collection DOAJ
description In temperate regions, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen, 1830) is subject to seasonal changes in natural conditions. Insects exhibit a wide range of adaptive responses to changes in the seasons. In this study, we focused on polyteny, which plays an important role in fruit fly development. Polytene chromosomes are the result of endocycles, a variant of the cell cycle based on endoreduplication. This phenomenon is the basis of postmitotic growth, which is caused by cell expansion. The purpose of the study was to investigate the seasonal dynamics of the levels of endoreduplication and polyteny in fruit flies obtained from the natural population. Flies caught in the spring and autumn of 2019 and 2020 were used as biological material. Chromosomal differences in polyteny were studied by cytomorphometry. We found that patterns of polyteny in Drosophila salivary glands undergo seasonal changes. To a certain extent, these variations correlate with changes in the direction of natural selection, which undergoes seasonal fluctuations. Indices of endoreduplication and cell ploidy acquire the greatest values after overwintering, during which there is an extreme decline in population size and flies undergo selection for viability and stress resistance. During the growing season, endoreduplication and ploidy indicators are reduced. We believe that this facilitates population growth by resulting in smaller flies with accelerated development and faster change of generations. The seasonal component in the total variation of chromosome polyteny in the salivary glands of Drosophila larvae was 21.9%. No significant sex differences were found for this trait.
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spelling doaj-art-e7dff8b460064142870aba03290b719b2025-08-20T03:26:48ZengInstitute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of ScienceEuropean Journal of Entomology1210-57591802-88292025-01-01122111010.14411/eje.2025.001eje-202501-0001Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?Volodymyr STRASHNYUK0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8343-866XEvgenij VAKULENKO1https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8647-8949Yelyzaveta KOPTEVTSOVA2https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8721-7714Department of Genetics and Cytology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Svobody sq., 4, Kharkiv 61022, Ukraine; e-mails: volodymyr.strashnyuk@gmail.com, vakulenkoevgenij353@gmail.com, ekoptevtsova@gmail.comDepartment of Genetics and Cytology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Svobody sq., 4, Kharkiv 61022, Ukraine; e-mails: volodymyr.strashnyuk@gmail.com, vakulenkoevgenij353@gmail.com, ekoptevtsova@gmail.comDepartment of Genetics and Cytology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Svobody sq., 4, Kharkiv 61022, Ukraine; e-mails: volodymyr.strashnyuk@gmail.com, vakulenkoevgenij353@gmail.com, ekoptevtsova@gmail.comIn temperate regions, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen, 1830) is subject to seasonal changes in natural conditions. Insects exhibit a wide range of adaptive responses to changes in the seasons. In this study, we focused on polyteny, which plays an important role in fruit fly development. Polytene chromosomes are the result of endocycles, a variant of the cell cycle based on endoreduplication. This phenomenon is the basis of postmitotic growth, which is caused by cell expansion. The purpose of the study was to investigate the seasonal dynamics of the levels of endoreduplication and polyteny in fruit flies obtained from the natural population. Flies caught in the spring and autumn of 2019 and 2020 were used as biological material. Chromosomal differences in polyteny were studied by cytomorphometry. We found that patterns of polyteny in Drosophila salivary glands undergo seasonal changes. To a certain extent, these variations correlate with changes in the direction of natural selection, which undergoes seasonal fluctuations. Indices of endoreduplication and cell ploidy acquire the greatest values after overwintering, during which there is an extreme decline in population size and flies undergo selection for viability and stress resistance. During the growing season, endoreduplication and ploidy indicators are reduced. We believe that this facilitates population growth by resulting in smaller flies with accelerated development and faster change of generations. The seasonal component in the total variation of chromosome polyteny in the salivary glands of Drosophila larvae was 21.9%. No significant sex differences were found for this trait.https://www.eje.cz/artkey/eje-202501-0001_seasonal-variation-in-endoreduplication-and-polyteny-in-the-fruit-fly-drosophila-melanogaster-diptera-drosoph.phpdrosophilanatural populationdevelopmental polyploidypolytene chromosomesendocyclesfluctuating selection
spellingShingle Volodymyr STRASHNYUK
Evgenij VAKULENKO
Yelyzaveta KOPTEVTSOVA
Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?
European Journal of Entomology
drosophila
natural population
developmental polyploidy
polytene chromosomes
endocycles
fluctuating selection
title Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?
title_full Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?
title_fullStr Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?
title_short Seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae): How does it contribute to adaptation?
title_sort seasonal variation in endoreduplication and polyteny in the fruit fly drosophila melanogaster diptera drosophilidae how does it contribute to adaptation
topic drosophila
natural population
developmental polyploidy
polytene chromosomes
endocycles
fluctuating selection
url https://www.eje.cz/artkey/eje-202501-0001_seasonal-variation-in-endoreduplication-and-polyteny-in-the-fruit-fly-drosophila-melanogaster-diptera-drosoph.php
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AT evgenijvakulenko seasonalvariationinendoreduplicationandpolytenyinthefruitflydrosophilamelanogasterdipteradrosophilidaehowdoesitcontributetoadaptation
AT yelyzavetakoptevtsova seasonalvariationinendoreduplicationandpolytenyinthefruitflydrosophilamelanogasterdipteradrosophilidaehowdoesitcontributetoadaptation