Biology subjects

Kingsolver, J. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Kingsolver, J. G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Moving beyond mean thermal death times to assess organismal responses to stressful temperatures

Predicting survival of ectotherms in stressful and variable thermal environments is an essential challenge in this era of heat waves and climate change. Recent thermal death time (TDT) models, based on an exponential relationship between average time to death (or failure) tf and temperature, enable accounting for average survival responses to both the magnitude and duration of stressful temperatures. However, extending these deterministic and probabilistic models to predict patterns of survival in fluctuating temperatures currently requires additional assumptions: e.g. that injury accumulation due to heat stress is additive across temperatures, and that the shape of the cumulative survival curve does not change with temperature. We evaluate these assumptions and their consequences by using a parametric survival model and available data on failure (knockdown) times of adult Drosophila. We find that the variance in log(tf) increases with increasing constant temperatures in most Drosophila species, resulting in changes in shape of the failure density and survival curves across temperatures. We compare predictions of three deterministic and probabilistic models that differ in their TDT assumptions using D. melanogaster data in fluctuating (but stressful) temperatures. All three models consistently underestimate observed median failure times except at extremely high temperatures, suggesting non-additivity of heat injury accumulation. Our parametric model, incorporating temperature-dependent variance, provides more accurate predictions of cumulative survival curves in fluctuating temperatures. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding both mean and variation in failure times, and how these change across temperatures, for modeling survival in fluctuating thermal environments.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2025

Different transcriptional responses to developmental versus short-term acclimation temperatures in Pieris rapae

To anticipate the role of thermal plasticity in evolutionary responses to climate change, it is critical to identify the molecular processes which underlie responses to temperature across different timescales. However, existing transcriptomic studies largely focus on responses to acute thermal stress or do not manipulate temperature across multiple timescales. We used RNA-sequencing to measure gene expression of Pieris rapae larvae exposed to a full factorial combination of non-stressful high and low temperatures across a long-term developmental timescale and a short-term acclimation timescale. This study design allowed us to separate genes associated with developmental thermal plasticity versus short-term acclimation responses, respectively. We observed that few genes were differentially expressed in response to both developmental temperature and short-term acclimation temperature, though there were some functional similarities across the two gene sets. This result suggests that the expression of different genes underlies thermal plasticity acting on different timescales, and thus these responses may evolve independently. Genes responsive to developmental temperature include those related to hormone activity and cold acclimation, while short-term acclimation temperature affected the expression of several cuticle protein genes. Both developmental and short-term acclimation temperature treatments affected the expression of genes involved in detoxification and protein folding. Finally, we identified a small subset of genes for which expression levels were dependent on the interaction between developmental and short-term acclimation temperature treatments, providing possible mechanisms by which developmental temperature may affect an organisms capacity for acclimation responses later in life.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Heat stress and the temporal dynamics of insect growth

Temperature affects rates of ingestion, growth and other key processes in insects and other ectotherms, a relationship described by the thermal performance curve. But the history of temperature exposure can cause stress or acclimation responses, altering the relationship between current temperature and performance. The temporal dynamics of such time-dependent effects for ectotherm growth are poorly understood. We quantify how growth and ingestion change over time at different constant temperatures during the final larval instar for two thermal-generalist insect species, Pieris rapae L. and Manduca sexta L. Initial growth rates were greatest at higher temperatures for both P. rapae (29-35 {degrees}C) and M. sexta (34-38 {degrees}C); but growth rates at higher temperatures declined over time. As a result, the optimal and maximal temperatures for growth declined over time (2-4 days) in both species. Unlike P. rapae, M. sexta could maintain growth and survival to wandering and pupation at temperatures above 35 {degrees}C. For M. sexta larvae at 40 {degrees}C, ingestion continues even as growth declines, suggesting that post-ingestive processes limit growth rates at these high temperatures. Our results show how time-dependent effects at higher temperatures develop over hourly to daily time scales, with important consequences for understanding and modeling organismal responses to heat waves and extreme temperature events.

ecology↗