Developmental noise and phenotypic plasticity are correlated in Drosophila simulans

Abstract

Abstract Non-genetic variation is the phenotypic variation induced by the differential expression of a genotype in response to varying environmental cues and is broadly categorized into two types: phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise. These aspects of variation have been suggested to play an important role in adaptive evolution. However, the mechanisms by which these two types of non-genetic variations influence the evolutionary process are currently poorly understood. Using a machine-learning-based phenotyping tool, we independently quantified phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise in the wing morphological traits of the fruit fly Drosophila simulans. Utilizing a rearing experiment, we demonstrated plastic responses in both wing size and shape as well as non-zero heritability of both phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise, which suggests that adaptive phenotypic plasticity can evolve via genetic accommodation in the wing morphology of D. simulans. We found a positive correlation between phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise, while the correlation between the plastic response to three kinds of environmental factors that were examined (nutrient condition, temperature, and light–dark cycle) was poor. These results suggest that phenotypic plasticity and developmental noise contribute to evolvability in a similar manner, however, the mechanisms that underlie the correspondence between these two types of variation remain to be elucidated.