Meeting Abstract

P3-74   -   Evolutionary background and thermal tolerance in wild caught Drosophila from elevational gradients across the eastern slope of the Colorado Rocky Mountains Axen, HJ*; Bespalova, I; Baldwin, L; Weed, E; Wojicicki, E; Jimenez, J; Modla, T; Meehan, C; Salve Regina University ; Salve Regina University ; Salve Regina University ; Salve Regina University ; Salve Regina University ; Salve Regina University ; Salve Regina University ; Boston University Heather.axen@salve.edu

The ability to cope with substantial fluctuations in environment variables is a major determinant of ability to persist in the face of predicted changes temperature due to climate change. Local adaptation to habitats with extreme temperature variation, such as from high elevations, may select to enhance or preserve mechanisms associated with thermal stress. We tested the functional ability of wild-caught Drosophila to cope with thermal stress using critical thermal maxima and minima, and investigate gene expression changes in heat shock proteins 0, 3, 6, and 12 hours post thermal stress in flies collected along an elevational transect on the western slope of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We hypothesize that if a thermally variable climate selects for mechanisms associated with thermal tolerance over evolutionary time, we expect individuals from variable environments will: demonstrate increased ability cope with thermal extremes at a physiological level and show increased utilization of molecular pathways associated with thermal stress.