Stress temperatures and quantitative variation in Drosophila melanogaster

Using an isofemale line analysis, we analysed the consequences of extreme rearing temperatures for genetic variation in quantitative characters in Drosophila melanogaster. Three types of characters were used: life history (viability and developmental time), body size (thorax length and wing length) and meristic (number of sternopleural chaetae and number of arista branches). Phenotypic variation significantly increased under stress conditions in all morphological characters studied; for viability, it increased at the low stress temperature. Genetic variation, measured by the coefficient of intraclass correlation, was generally higher at both low and high stress temperatures for thorax length and sternopleural chaeta number. For wing length and viability, genetic variation was higher at the low extreme temperature. No consistent trend was found for genetic variation in arista branch number and developmental time. Our results agree with the hypothesis that genetic variation is increased in stressful environments. A possible mechanism underlying this phenomenon is briefly discussed.