The Genetics Architecture of Cold Tolerance and Adaptation of Wild Populations of Drosophila to their Changing Environments.

: With dramatic climate changes being reported in our planet, there is an urgent need to determine what effect these changes are having on wild populations. Temperature is a major environmental cue that shapes life histories of organisms, and the dynamics of wild-populations, particularly in the temperate regions. Temperature levels oscillate daily during the light-dark cycle, and annually throughout the season; the temperature preference of a given species defines its temporal niche and constrains the daily activity times, the timing of the reproductive season, and the species dispersal range. The aim of this project is to elucidate the genetic architecture of temperature preference, as information about genetic variation underlying this trait is critical for understanding its evolution, and the capacity of populations to response to rapid climate change.

Drosophila is a major model organism that has been used extensively for understanding the molecular mechanism of various processes, as well as evolution and population genetics. The genetic toolbox available for Drosophila is unrivalled by any other model organism. Indeed, recent studies in Drosophila identified the molecular basis of thermal preference [1], particularly the role of the temperature-activated members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) proteins. This provides us an exciting opportunity to explore genetic variation in candidate genes and identify sequence changes that may serve as molecular adaptations to the thermal environment in wild populations. The aim of the project is to study the genetic variation underlying temperature preference. The specific objectives are to (i) identify genetic variations in candidate genes, (ii) testing the functional role of these variations and (iii) analyse the distribution of these variations in wild populations, in order to understand the population response to climate change.