Effect of laboratory acclimation on the variation of reproduction-related characters in Drosophila melanogaster

The natural variation of sex-specific characters between populations can favor their behavioral isolation, eventually leading to the formation of new species. Marked variations for male courtship, mating and the production of sex pheromones - three complex characters potentially inducing sexual isolation - were found between Drosophila melanogaster populations of various origins acclimated for many generations in research laboratories. However, the natural variation of these three characters between natural populations and their evolution after long-term acclimation in the laboratory remains unknown. We measured many traits involved in these characters in six stocks initiated with distinct populations sampled in a restricted geographic area. Several sex-specific traits varied between stocks freshly brought back to the laboratory. After 100 generations spent in the laboratory without any experimental selection, traits varied in a strain-dependent manner. This variation was not related to a reduction of their variance except for copulation duration. This indicates that reproduction-related characters can diverge between neighboring D. melanogaster populations, and differently adapt to stable laboratory conditions.